Menopausal Symptoms in Women With Breast Cancer or At High Risk of Breast Cancer Treated on Another Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVES:

• Retrieve data from an archived database of a closed clinical trial that involved treatment with sertraline hydrochloride or a placebo for the management of hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms in women with breast cancer or at high risk of breast cancer.
• Analyze the results of this closed clinical trial so that they can be published.

OUTLINE: Data from an archived database of a closed clinical trial is retrieved. Descriptive analyses of outcome variables (e.g., menopausal symptoms, including number and intensity of hot flashes, and psychosocial and quality of life scales) are conducted to gain insight into their distributional aspects. Data is analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures to account for the changes within a patient over time as a function of treatment assignment. Summary scores from the psychosocial scales that are reasonably complete (i.e., FACT-B and POMS) are examined using mixed linear models to account for patient-specific differences, treatment effects, and variable patterns of completeness.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Personal or family history of carcinoma in situ of the breast or invasive breast cancer
• Treated with sertraline hydrochloride or a placebo on a clinical trial (that is now closed) at the Baylor College of Medicine-The Methodist Hospital Breast Cancer Center
• Reported hot flashes with a hot flash rating of > 15 (frequency and severity) for 1 week (before starting treatment with sertraline hydrochloride or a placebo)
• No progressive metastatic breast cancer
• Hormone receptor status not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Female
• Menopausal status not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics