Treatments that may Cause or Accelerate Menopause: Chemotherapy

• Chemotherapy can damage ovarian follicles and cause earlier menopause, increase the length and severity of symptoms and result in permanent ovarian failure
• Gonadotoxic chemotherapy (therapies that can damage the ovaries or testes), primarily treatments containing alkylating agents, may damage ovarian function and may result in permanent menopause (Hickey et al., 2024)
• Preliminary research indicates that the effect of new targeted therapies and immunotherapy on ovarian function is uncertain, but in mice, immunotherapy damaged the ovaries (Hickey et al., 2024)
• Common chemotherapies that can damage the ovaries include cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, cisplatin, carboplatin and taxanes