Despite various available treatments, there is still a lack of tolerable or effective treatment for hot flashes in all patients with breast cancer.

A recent study thus enrolled patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer and randomized them to receive 10 mg of escitalopram, placebo, or progressive muscle relaxation therapy (PMRT). The frequency and duration of hot flashes during day and night, at baseline and after 10 weeks of treatment were noted and the participants also completed the menopause rating scale (MRS).

Among 82 enrolled patients, 26 received escitalopram, 28 received PMRT and 28 received placebo. Both, PMRT and escitalopram showed an effective decrease in the number and duration of diurnal and nocturnal HFs, however, escitalopram showed a better effect. Furthermore, they both decreased the total MRS score.

Thus, both escitalopram and PMRT can effectively reduce nocturnal and diurnal HFs in terms of frequency and duration in patients with breast cancer.

Shirzadi M, Farshchian N, Nazarpour A. et al. Escitalopram and progressive muscle relaxation training are both effective for the treatment of hot flashes in patients with breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2021. DOI: 10.1080/0167482X.2021.1985452