Depression, Sexual dysfunction and Quality of Life Among Breast Cancer Patients with Ovarian Function Suppression: A Cross Sectional Study between Ovarian Ablation Verse GnRH Agonists

Background: Ovarian function suppression is being widely utilized as endocrine therapy to reduce estrogen release in premenopausal breast cancer patients and was achieved either by medical treatment with bilateral oophorectomy, irradiation, or the Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist. This study aimed to examine whether GnRHa differed from ovarian ablation on depression, sexual dysfunction and quality of life. Methods: : The premenopausal breast cancer patients who received ovarian function suppression were enrolled from seven hospital between June 2019 and June 2020. Our independent variable was the type of ovarian suppression, categorized as Ovarian Ablation (OA cohort, n=174) and medical GnRH agonist (GnRHa cohort, n=389). The self-administered questionnaire (OFS-Q5) was developed and used in this study aimed to assess the depression (PHQ-9), sexual dysfunction (FSFI) and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-BR23). Results: : In this cross-sectional study, 563 patients with ovarian function suppression completed surveys were collected. The mean sum score of the PHQ-9 tend to be slight decrease in GnRHa cohort than that in ovarian ablation (OA) cohort (11.4 ±5.7 vs. 12.8 ±5.8, OR=1.910, P =0.079). Patients with major depression (PHQ-9≧15) was indicated significantly fewer in GnRHa cohort (31.1% vs 40.2%, P=0.025). The more surprising correlation is less patients with sexual dysfunction (61.5%, FSFI< 23) in OA cohort, a remarkable increase in GnRHa cohort (72.2%, P = 0.011). The ratio of sexual dysfunction remained lower for ovarian ablation women in long-term ovarian suppression (duration of ovarian suppression > 2 years: OA vs GnRHa, OR=1.555, P=0.037). No significantly difference for most subscales of QLQ-BR23 between two cohorts was evident. Conclusions: : Our current investigation demonstrate here for the first time that medical GnRHa resulted in favour depression, worse sexual function than those with ovarian ablation, with similar quality of life. This new understanding should help to improve and alleviate adverse effect in patients with diverse ovarian function suppression.