Breast Health

Breast Health and Menopause

One in eight people going through menopause will get breast cancer in their lifetime. Identifying if you are at high-risk for breast cancer is just as important as trying to live a healthy lifestyle to help promote healthy breasts. Our UCLA Menopause Program will help identify those that are at high risk as well as discuss how to best prevent breast cancer by optimizing healthy behaviors.

The most common breast cancer is treated with hormone blockade pills that reduce estrogen levels or block estrogen from activating estrogen receptors (ER) throughout the body. These can cause menopause symptoms, including hot flashes, joint stiffness, vaginal dryness, and loss of bone density. For this type of breast cancer (ER+HER2-), inducing or maintaining menopause is the primary treatment. It is imperative to manage menopause symptoms so our breast cancer patients can be treated with life-saving therapy without compromising their quality of life.  The menopausal symptoms experienced by breast cancer survivors are usually more severe than for those going through natural menopause. These effects are exacerbated if people experience menopause at a young age. Many people turn to hormone replacement therapy to help with hot flash relief. However, for those at high risk for breast cancer and those who are currently undergoing or have completed breast cancer treatment, hormone replacement therapy may not be an option. We offer many different non-hormonal treatment options to help address their needs. No matter the situation, it is our goal to be able to provide education and therapy to help those needing care using a comprehensive approach.

Resources

• Breast health information and guidelines
• High risk breast clinic at UCLA Health
• UCLA Health breast cancer care
• UCLA Health breast cancer resources