Does Transdermal Testosterone Increase the Risk of Developing Breast Cancer? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background/aim: Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is hypothesised to manifest in postmenopausal women at onset of menopause due to decreased oestrogen levels. Transdermal testosterone is a potential treatment option. This systematic review explores the relationship between the incidence of breast cancer and transdermal testosterone use.

Materials and methods: Searches were conducted on the PubMed and Ovid databases. In Ovid, the advanced search function was used: 'transdermal testosterone not male'. In PubMed, the following search terms were used: 'transdermal, testosterone, menopausal, women, breast cancer, women'. Abstracts that fitted our initial criteria were further investigated.

Results: A total of 25 publications from PubMed and 192 publications from Ovid were initially assessed. Three randomised control trials were judged to have sufficiently met our inclusion criteria. However, these trials were too heterogeneous for a meta-analysis. A systematic review was deemed the most appropriate analysis of the data available.

Conclusion: The publications examined in this systematic review suggest that the use of transdermal testosterone to treat HSDD in postmenopausal women does not increase breast cancer incidence. However, further research in the form of adequately powered randomised controlled trials with breast cancer incidence being the primary end point is required in order to confirm this.

Keywords: Hypoactive sexual desire disorder; breast cancer; postmenopausal; review; transdermal testosterone.