Key clinical point: Vaginal laser treatment was not superior in improving sexual function and was less well tolerated than sham laser therapy (SLT) in survivors of breast cancer (BC) with genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) who received treatment with aromatase inhibitors (AI).
Major finding: At 6 months, patients receiving fractional carbon dioxide laser therapy (CLT) and those receiving SLT had similar improvement in the female sexual function index score (P = .15), with the CLT vs SLT group having a significantly lower mean tolerance score (3.3 vs 4.1; P = .007).
Study details: Findings are from the randomized clinical trial LIGHT including 84 patients with BC who were receiving AI for GSM and were randomly assigned to receive a first-line therapy based on nonhormonal moisturizers and vaginal vibrator stimulation with fractional CLT or SLT.
Disclosures: This study was funded by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the European Union, with various items provided by DEKA, IntherPharma, CumLaude Lab, and BCNatal. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Mension E et al. Effect of fractional carbon dioxide vs sham laser on sexual function in survivors of breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitors for genitourinary syndrome of menopause: The LIGHT randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(2):e2255697 (Feb 10). Doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.55697