Prognostic Value of Chemotherapy-Induced Amenorrhea in Breast Cancer: a Meta-Analysis

Background: There is still a great deal of controversy with regard to the prognostic role of chemotherapyinducedamenorrhea (CIA) in breast cancer patients. To confirm whether CIA can serve as a useful factor inpredicting clinical effects of systemic adjuvant chemotherapy, we performed this meta-analysis. Materials and
Methods: Relevant studies were identified using PubMed, and Embase databases. Eligible study results werepooled and summary hazard ratios (HRs) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Subgroupanalyses and an assessment of publication bias were also conducted.
Results: A total of 8,333 patients from 11published studies were identified through searching the databases. The pooled HRs for disease-free survival(DFS) suggested that CIA was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of recurrence, especially inpatients with hormone receptor-positive lesions (overall HR=0.65, 95%CI 0.53-0.80, I2= 41.3%). When the fivestudies reporting the HR for overall survival (OS) were pooled (n=4193), a favorable trend was found (HR=0.69,95%CI 0.52-0.91, I2= 51.6%). No publication bias was observed in this study.
Conclusions: This meta-analysissuggests that CIA predicts a better outcome in premenopausal hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients.