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Ask the Doctor
“Do all women experience premature menopause
following a bone marrow or stem cell transplant?”
Tauseef Ahmed, MD, New York Medical College, responds:
Premature menopause is quite common following a bone marrow or
stem cell transplant. Older women (i.e., women who are 30 years or older at the
time of transplant) are more likely to experience premature menopause than
younger women.
However, not all patients experience premature menopause. For that
reason, I advise patients to maintain contraceptive precautions several months
or years post-transplant if they are not interested in having children. Even in
the absence of menstruation, ovulation may still be occurring.
If women want to conceive a child after transplant, they may be
able to do so despite ovarian failure. If their disease is not aggressive and a
bone marrow or stem cell transplant can safely be delayed, they may be able to
cryopreserve (freeze) embryos prior to transplant. At a later
date, the embryos can be thawed and inserted into the woman’s womb.
Alternatively, a woman may become pregnant after transplant using
eggs donated by a known or anonymous donor that have been fertilized with their
partner’s sperm. Several transplant survivors have become pregnant and
delivered normal, healthy babies using this technology.
A woman in premature menopause should consult her gynecologist
about hormone replacement therapy (HRT). An estrogen deficiency can lead to
osteoporosis—a degenerative bone disorder that can be very painful and
debilitating. |
