There’s hope for women with breast cancer who are experiencing menopausal symptoms, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Women whose breast cancer has estrogen receptors are usually treated with estrogen depleting medicines, with the consequence that they have hot flashes and night sweats, so called ‘vasomotor symptoms,’ that many describe as worse than menopause. Now a new medicine has been developed that helped many women in a recent study. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at Johns Hopkins explains.

Nelson: Menopausal symptoms are an inevitable consequence seemingly to many of the treatments we use for breast cancer, breast cancer that makes the estrogen receptor positive breast cancer because they are treated with anti hormones to lower estrogen levels, to block estrogen action. There's a set of drugs that target receptors that are related to the way the brain and the pituitary regulate hormones. These agents can reduce the so-called vasomotor symptoms that's hot flashes and night sweats.     :29

Nelson is encouraged by the results of this trial and says several similar drugs are in the pipeline. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.