Non-hormonal treatment of vasomotor symptoms in gynecological cancer patients.

Gynaecological cancer patients generally suffer from an earlier and more severe menopausal syndrome than the general female population. Hormone replacement therapy is often contraindicated and there are non-hormonal treatments that are proven to be more effective than placebo in randomized controlled trials, e.g., some antidepressants, gabapentine and clonidine. The main limits to the use of these drugs in controlling hot flashes are the off-label use for this purpose, the very short follow-up and the fact that data come from studies performed on breast cancer, not on gynecological cancer patients. Patients believe that drugs derived from plants could be effective in relieving hot flashes and that they are harmless. Evidence is contrary to this belief and estrogen-sensitive cancer patients should be warned of the potential, though very weak, estrogenic effect of phytoestrogens and other "natural" drugs, and that their efficacy is close to that of a placebo.