LASER and Radiofrequency for Treatment of Vaginal Vulvar Atrophy (VVA) in Women Treated for Breast Cancer (EPMLARF-arm2)

Breast Cancer Clinical Trial

— EPMLARF  

Official title:

LASER and Radiofrequency as Alternative Treatment of Vaginal Vulvar Atrophy in Women Treated for Breast Cancer

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04081805
• Other study ID #: CEP0431/2018 arm 2
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 30, 2019
• Est. completion date: September 2025

Study information

• Verified date: September 2023
• Source: Federal University of São Paulo
• Contact: Ana Maria HM Bianchi-Ferraro, PhD
• Phone: +5511995217431
• Email: anamariahmb[@]yahoo.com.br
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This is a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the use of LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency and topic promestriene to treat symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy of women treated for breast cancer.

Description:

Women treated for breast cancer with moderate or severe signs or symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy will be eligible for the study. The patients will be randomized to receive one of the three intravaginal therapies: LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or Promestriene. The applications will occur in the interval of 30 days for 3 times, for LASER and Radiofrequency groups. For the promestriene group, the application will be done by the patient, daily for 2 weeks and then twice a week for 3 months, and each 30 days, the patients will have an appointment when will be checked the weight of the promestriene tube, to verify the correct use. The follow-up visits will occur 30, 90, 180 and 360 days after the conclusion of the third month of treatment. Will be evaluated: vulvar and vaginal histology before and after the use of LASER, radiofrequency or estriol; microbiota and vaginal pH before and after the use of LASER, radiofrequency or promestriene; extracellular matrix and metalloproteinases in the remodeling of vulvovaginal collagen induced by promestriene, LASER and radiofrequency; quality of life, sexual dysfunctions and complains before and after the use of LASER, radiofrequency or hormones; metabolomics and vaginal microbiome.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 195
• Est. completion date: September 2025
• Est. primary completion date: September 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 30 Years to 75 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Women with breast cancer treated with surgery and / or chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy, that has been concluded at least 6 months before inclusion, whether or not using aromatase inhibitor and complaining of vulvovaginal atrophy

2. To present, at least moderate, or severe intensity (score 4 or more of visual analog

scale ( 0-10)) of one of the signs or symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy:

• Burning
• Discomfort
• Dryness
• Cracks
• Pruritus
• Lack of vaginal lubrication
• Penetration dyspareunia that began at the menopausal or postmenopausal transition
• Decreased vaginal epithelium turgor and trophism
• Deletion of mucous and skin folds.

3. Absence of vaginal surgical procedure in the last year

4. Genital prolapse stage no greater than stage II of Pelvic Organs Prolapse Quantitation (POP-Q) with Ba, Bp or C points less than or equal to 0

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Active genital infection

2. Active infection of HPV (human papillomavirus) or Herpes

3. users of medications with estrogenic effect (digoxin and other chemicals)

4. Postmenopausal genital bleeding

5. uncontrolled diabetes

6. use of multivitamins with zinc

7. use of copper or hormonal IUDs (intrauterine device) at the time of inclusion

8. presence of genitourinary or rectovaginal fistulas

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Atrophy
• Breast Cancer
• Breast Neoplasms
• Vaginal Atrophy
• Vulva; Atrophy

Intervention

Procedure:
• LASER
The patient will use intravaginal estriol, daily for 2 weeks and them twice a week for 3 months . Each 30 days, the patients will have an appointment when will be checked the weight of the estriol tube to verify the correct use.vulvar application of LASER, to postmenopausal genitourinary syndrome. The patient will be in gynecological position, after remove of vaginal secretion, with gauze and under topic anesthesia, the LASER will be applied, according to the protocol of the manufactured.
• Micro Ablative Radiofrequency
Use of Linly™ equipment to perform ambulatory intravaginal and vulvar application of fractionated microablative radiofrequency, to postmenopausal genitourinary syndrome. The patient will be in gynecological position, after remove of vaginal secretion, with gauze and under topic anesthesia, the radiofrequency will be applied, according to the protocol of the manufactured

Drug:
• Promestriene
The patient will perform self application of this vaginal promestriene daily for 2 weeks and after that the applications will occur twice a week.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Brazil	Federal University of Sao Paulo - Unifesp	São Paulo	SP

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Federal University of São Paulo	Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Brazil, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Clinical Improvement of signs and symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy with intravaginal LASER, Micro Ablative Radiofrequency, and topic promestriene	Will be applied a Visual Analogic Scale (0-10) to access the improvement of genitourinary signs and symptoms, the results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will be done 90 days after treatment]
Primary	Satisfaction with treatment by intravaginal LASER, Micro ablative Radiofrequency, and topic promestriene for women treated for breast cancer, with genitourinary atrophy syndrome	Will be applied a LIKERT Satisfaction Scale (1-5) to access the satisfaction with the treatment, the results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will be done 90 days after treatment
Secondary	Evaluation of Microbiota before and after the use of intravaginal LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene	The vaginal flora will be evaluated by vaginal smear. The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment 30, 90 , 180 and 360 days after treatment]
Secondary	Evaluation of vaginal pH before and after the use of intravaginal LASER, Micro ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene	The vaginal pH will be verified by the use of pH tape's. The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30, 90, 180 and 360 days after treatment
Secondary	Histologic evaluation of vagina and vulva before and after the use of intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	Thickness of epithelium (mm and number of layers), and evaluation of expression of Ki-67 and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) will be done on vaginal and vulvar biopsies, in order to evaluate the tissue regeneration ( a greater the number of layers associated with the expression of VEGF and ki67 indicate a tissue regeneration, the combination of this measures, and not evaluation each one isolated, are important to evaluate histological improvement). The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30 and 180 days after treatment
Secondary	Evaluation of impact in Quality of life after treatment with intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	The IQol (incontinence quality of life questionnaire, validated to portuguese language - score 0-100) will be used to evaluate quality of life .The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30 and 180 and 360 days after treatment]
Secondary	Evaluation of impact in Sexual function after treatment with intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	The FSF-I (Female Sexual Function Index , validated to portuguese language- score range from 2 - 36) will be used to evaluate sexual function . The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30 180 and 360 days after treatment
Secondary	Evaluation of extracellular matrix before and after the use of intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	Evaluation of the composition and concentration of the glycosaminoglycans of extracellular matrix in the vaginal and vulvar biopsies by specific markers. The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30 and 180 days after treatment]
Secondary	Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinases(MMP) in remodeling of vulvovaginal collagen induced by intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	Evaluation of the tissue distribution of the MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-9 metalloproteinases of collagen I, II, IV and elastin proteins by specific markers on vaginal and vulvar biopsies. The results of the three groups will be compared	The evaluation will occur pre-treatment and 30 and 180 days after treatment
Secondary	Evaluation of visual aspect of vulva after the use of intravaginal and vulvar LASER, Micro Ablative radiofrequency or topic promestriene.	Pictures of vulva will be taken before and after treatment. The images will be evaluated by a blind gynecologist and dermatologist regarding the type of treatment and the chronological order of the photos, which will classify the images as: better; equal or worse, in relation to tropism and number of vulvar skin grooves, The results of the three groups will be compared	The pictures will be taken before and 30 days and 180 days after treatment.]