Climacteric in women with gynecological malignant neoplasms

Introduction: Gynecological cancers accounted for 43.1% of the estimated incidence of new oncological cases in women in 2020, with 30 to 40% of these diagnoses made during perimenopause. Women living in menopause may present vasomotor, somatic, psychological and urogenital problems, with reduced quality of life, in addition to changes in the metabolic profile, increasing cardiovascular risk and reducing bone mass. Thus, there is an elderly population recently diagnosed with gynecological cancer or already cured of it, with significant life expectancy, experiencing the physical, psychological, sexual and social effects of the disease, with climacteric symptoms and an increased risk of cardiovascular and osteoporotic diseases, both natural and induced by treatment, which require attention. Although some studies show that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can improve several climacteric parameters, in women with a history of gynecological cancer, the possibility of hormonal influence on the development of some female neoplastic modalities represents a contraindication for HRT, particularly via systemic route. Objectives: To evaluate the different aspects related to the menopausal transition of women with gynecological malignant neoplasms and compare them to women without this history. Methods: A prospective cohort study will be carried out with climacteric women with and without gynecological malignant neoplasm. All women who start follow-up at the menopause outpatient clinic of Hospital da Mulher Prof. Dr. José Aristodemo Pinotti - CAISM/Unicamp during the period from October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 will be invited to participate, or until reaching a sample size of 100 women in each group, who meet the eligibility criteria. They will be included in the study after obtaining the informed consent form (ICF) and then a complete anamnesis will be performed, followed by data collection, consisting of sociodemographic and clinical variables, a questionnaire to measure menopausal symptoms (Menopause Rating Scale), an instrument to assess quality of life (WHQ), an assessment of sexual function (Female Sexual Function Index) and screening for depression (PHQ-9). A general physical examination and gynecological examination will be performed, with assessment of blood pressure, body mass index, vaginal health score index and collection of vaginal cytology. Patients will be referred for collection of biochemical tests and bone densitometry. An Excel file containing all evaluations and participant data will be generated. For reasons of confidentiality, data cannot be made available. For questions and possible reuse of the data, please contact the authors by email.