Midi pioneers menopause care for breast cancer survivors

Midi Health, the US-based virtual care clinic for women aged 35+, has launched a menopause care service specifically for women who have survived or are at high risk of breast cancer.

Its ‘survivorship programme’ has been developed and led by Dr. Mindy Goldman, a clinical professor in the department of OB/GYN at UC San Francisco and founder of UCSF’s Gynecology Center for Cancer Survivors and At-Risk Women,

It offers a treatment options, advice and counselling; and gives patients a personalised treatment plan involving specialised clinicians and the individual’a existing medical team.

Midi CCO Dr. Mindy Goldman

Too many women suffer perimenopause and menopause symptoms due to outdated beliefs about hormone therapy and breast cancer risk, the company believes.

Misunderstandings around hormone therapy (HT) and breast cancer risk can be traced back to initial findings from the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study that have now largely been debunked.

Later data from the same study showed that estrogen actually decreases the risk of breast cancer, and the initial findings are now thought to have resulted from the type of progesterone used alongside estrogen.

Newer formulations of progesterone are now used and may not raise the risk of breast cancer at all, according to more recent studies.

However, this newer reassuring data on HT and breast cancer risk has not reached a wide swath of the general public.

The latest data shows less than two per cent of women over 40 are taking hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms – a huge drop from the 40 per cent of women who used HT before the now largely debunked WHI study.

In particular, breast cancer survivors, “pre-vivors” (defined as those with a genetic mutation who have not been diagnosed with cancer) and those with a family history of cancer generally believe they cannot use any hormonal therapies, or other medical interventions, for the symptoms of peri/menopause.

Unfortunately, many doctors continue to reinforce this outdated belief that all hormones are off-limits for breast cancer survivors, and generally are unaware of the many non-hormonal treatments.

Dr. Goldman, who is also chief clinical officer at Midi Health, says: “Because of mistaken and outdated thinking around hormone therapy and risk factors for breast cancer, far too many women needlessly suffer through symptoms of midlife hormonal change without getting the relief and care they deserve.

But the good news is that there are so many safe options available to help all women, even those with a personal history of breast cancer, live a fulfilling and active life beyond menopause. We have dedicated a whole team to staying abreast of the latest studies on new medications, clinical trials and other relevant research and designing state-of-the-art protocols for this population.”

Midi CEO and co-founder Joanna Strober adds: “With this launch, Midi becomes the first and only virtual care clinic dedicated to providing personalised menopause treatment to all women – including cancer survivors and those at risk.