Testosterone after breast cancer: a small signal, not an answer
Glynne S, Kamal A, Neville A, McColl L, Reisel D, Newson L. Use of transdermal testosterone to treat menopausal symptoms in women with a history of breast cancer: a small, retrospective, open label study. Menopause. 2026;33(10):1040 to 1048.
What they found
A retrospective review of 47 women in the United Kingdom with a history of breast cancer, treated with testosterone applied to the skin. Mean age was 48. Mean time since diagnosis was six years. Most had oestrogen receptor positive disease, and more than half were on endocrine therapy.
Before treatment, fatigue, cognitive symptoms and low libido were near universal, each reported by 96 to 98 percent. After a mean of under four months, symptom questionnaire scores fell by about a third. Night sweats, anxiety, low mood, loss of pleasure and palpitations became less common.
What it means for practice
This is weak evidence: small, retrospective, open label, no control group, short follow up. The authors say so and call for placebo controlled trials. It does not establish safety for recurrence.
Read it alongside the consensus below, and alongside oncology guidance. What it confirms without doubt is the symptom burden. Nearly every woman in this group had low desire and fatigue. Ask about both after breast cancer. Many women will not raise them.
A consensus on hormone therapy after breast cancer, and where it sits
Glynne S, Simon J, Branson A, and colleagues. Menopausal hormone therapy for breast cancer patients: what is the current evidence? Menopause. 2026;33(1):88 to 117.
What they found
An expert panel reached consensus on statements about hormone therapy after breast cancer. It concluded that randomised trials support testosterone only for hypoactive sexual desire disorder. It also agreed that women with a history of breast cancer can consider a trial of testosterone through the skin, provided they understand the evidence is limited, long term safety is not established and use is off licence.
What it means for practice
This view sits apart from most oncology guidance, which still advises against systemic hormone therapy after breast cancer. Your patients may have read about it. Be ready to discuss it.
Decisions belong with the patient and her oncology team. Document the conversation, the uncertainty and her choice. Offer the treatments without hormones for hot flushes, and the full range of options for vaginal and sexual symptoms, in every case.
Desire can rise after retirement
Virkkunen V, Kero K, Stenholm S, Polo Kantola P. Changes in female sexual function during the retirement transition. Menopause. 2026;33(10):1080 to 1087.
What they found
Finnish women completed the Female Sexual Function Index every year before and after retirement. Overall sexual function held steady across the transition. Desire improved.
What it means for practice
Sexual function in later life is not a straight line down. Stress, fatigue and time pressure shape desire as much as hormones do. When they ease, desire can return.
Use this with patients who assume low desire is permanent. Ask what else is competing for their energy. Retirement is not the only lever. Workload, caring load and sleep are all modifiable.
Menopause is missing from the medical record
Bridging the menopause data gap: a scoping review of status, symptoms, and trends in electronic health records. Menopause. Published online 2 September 2026.
What they found
This scoping review found menopause status, reproductive stage and symptoms are recorded inconsistently in electronic health records. The gaps limit tracking over time, clinical decisions and research.
What it means for practice
If it is not written down, it did not happen for the next clinician. Record menopause status, date of final period, symptoms and their severity, and treatments tried.
Record sexual symptoms too. A single line such as pain with penetration, onset after menopause, affects relationship, saves the patient from telling the story again.
Also in the October issue
- Sexual function and intimate partner violence in middle aged women: a community based, dual focus study in Spain. 33(10):1049 to 1058.
- Prospective study of reproductive span and menopausal hormone therapy and cognitive decline over eight years in the Nurses' Health Study. 33(10):1066 to 1079.
- Vasomotor symptoms and heart failure in midlife women of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. 33(10):1127 to 1131.
- Mapping menopause: a rapid review exploring complex menopause care. 33(10):1097 to 1108.
- Nocturia in postmenopausal women. 33(10):1135 to 1137.
Full text is available to subscribers and members of The Menopause Society through the journal Menopause.