Vaginal estrogen therapy for treatment of menopausal genitourinary syndrome among breast cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

5 Repeated evidence

What this means for you: this is established.

Type of study: meta-analysis or systematic review
Studied in: people
Participants: not stated in the abstract
Published: 2025 in Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia
Cited: 2 times by other research
Who paid: Not declared. PubMed carries no conflict-of-interest statement for most articles; that is not the same as independent.
Source: PubMed 40673012 · doi 10.61622/rbgo/2025rbgo46

The plain-language write-up of this study is still being written. Below is the abstract exactly as the researchers published it.

Abstract by the researchers — original text

OBJECTIVE: Assess survival outcomes and risk of recurrence in vaginal estrogen therapy (VET) users with medical history of breast cancer. DATA SOURCE: The search strategy was guided by standardized terms and keywords were identified from controlled vocabularies. Following databases were used for literature search: Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus and Web of Science. Only studies published in the 21st century (2001-present) and written in English were included. STUDY SELECTION: A total of 988 records were reviewed by two independent authors. After full-text analysis of 38 of them, 7 articles were included in the meta-analysis. DATA COLLECTION: Data from eligible studies were extracted and tabulated based on predefined criteria: author, country, year, study type, sample size, type of intervention, use of aromatase inhibitors, duration of follow-up, and main outcomes. RESULTS: 118.659 breast cancer survivors were analyzed, of whom 6.358 were treated with VET. The overall analysis showed no significant increase in the risk of recurrence (RR = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.67-1.11). VET users had a significant reduction in all-cause mortality (RR = 0.80, IC95%: 0.75-0,86). CONCLUSION: Vaginal estrogen therapy appears to be safe in the management of menopausal genitourinary syndrome in breast cancer survivors and it is related to significantly lower all-cause mortality. PROSPECTIVE REGISTER OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS PROSPERO: CRD42024602047.