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FSH levels may predict bone loss in premenopausal women with breast cancer
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In premenopausal women with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy, subsequent bone loss may be predicted by higher baseline follicle-stimulating hormone levels, according to recent study findings published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Deborah E. Sellmeyer, MD, medical director of the Johns Hopkins Metabolic Bone Center, and colleagues evaluated data from the Exercise for Bone Health: Young Breast Cancer Survivors study on 206 women with breast cancer, aged 55 years or younger, who received adjuvant chemotherapy and were at least 1 year past diagnosis. Researchers sought to determine the association between baseline follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) after completion of breast cancer treatment and subsequent bone loss.
Bone loss over 12 months at the lumbar spine and femoral neck was associated with baseline FSH levels after adjustment for age, ethnicity, treatment group and baseline bone density (P < .001). FSH also was linked to bone loss in models with bone density at the femoral neck as the outcome (P = .02).
At 12 months, the change in BMD was 0.0008 g/cm2 in the lowest tertile of FSH, –0.012 g/cm2 in the middle tertile and –0.021 g/cm2 in the highest tertile. Lumbar spine changed by 0.18% in the lowest tertile, –1.12% in the middle tertile and –2.1% in the highest tertile.
“It will be important to determine the optimal timing of FSH measurement in relation to breast cancer treatment,” the researchers wrote. “Appropriate use of FSH, as a marker of chemotherapy-induced ovarian dysfunction and predictor of bone loss after breast cancer treatment, may allow for the timely implementation of preventive measures and treatments to reduce fractures while avoiding treatment in women who will maintain bone mass.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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