Health-Related Quality of Life in Menopausal Women with Cancer: Results from the CALCAN Study

Menopausal symptoms can negatively affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL), especially in women with a history of cancer. This study compared menopause-specific HRQoL in peri- and postmenopausal women with and without cancer and explored differences by cancer type, menopause treatment use, and depression.

We performed a cross-sectional multicenter study using self-reported data from 6833 women enrolled through the Mi Menopausia mobile app between 2021 and 2024. HRQoL was assessed with the Cervantes SF-16 scale.

The final sample consisted of 6833 women: no cancer (n = 6482) and cancer (n = 351), further classified as gynecologic (n = 210) and non-gynecologic (n = 141). Cancer history was associated with worse HRQoL in the Sexuality domain (51.2 ± 23.8 vs. 48.3 ± 24.6; p = 0.013), while global HRQoL did not differ significantly between women with and without cancer (30.6 ± 21.7 vs. 32.3 ± 20.7; p = 0.130). Among cancer women, Sexuality scores were worse in non-gynecologic versus gynecologic cancers (55.7 ± 22.9 vs. 48.2 ± 24.1; p = 0.005). Depression was consistently associated with worse HRQoL in all groups, while menopause treatment use was associated with poorer HRQoL only in women without cancer.

Cancer history was mainly associated with poorer sexual menopause-related HRQoL rather than global HRQoL. Depression was a major factor linked to impaired HRQoL, highlighting the need for integrated sexual and mental health assessment in menopausal women, particularly cancer survivors.