Cancer patients call for early menopause support

A woman with stage four breast cancer has called for more support for those experiencing menopause that has been brought on due to their cancer treatment.

Grace Warden, 31, from Norwich, said she "didn't anticipate the severity" of the side effects she would face when having treatment.

The charity Menopause and Cancer has launched its Call for Change campaign urging clearer information about the possible impacts of cancer treatment.

The Department of Health and Social Care said its National Cancer Plan would ensure patients had a personalised plan "so the long-term effects of treatment, including menopause, are recognised and built into their ongoing care".

Warden said information about being put into early menopause was "jumbled in with all of the other treatment", adding: "I think I was quite naive. But there wasn't any follow-up support on how to manage it – I had to learn for myself."

Menopause and Cancer said its campaign, launched on Friday, is "calling for treatment-induced premature ovarian insufficiency and menopause to be formally recognised as an important late effect of cancer treatment, particularly among younger patients".

According to Cancer Research UK, there are about 2,400 new cancer cases in young people every year in the UK.

Warden was diagnosed in September 2024 and had her first round of chemotherapy a month later. She is still having targeted therapy.

"In May 2025, I was put into the menopause as part of my cancer treatment because my cancer feeds off my oestrogen and progesterone, so in order to suppress the cancer they have to suppress the hormones," she said.

Warden said she felt "cross" both for herself and "all the other women who go through it, because it really shouldn't be something that's as hard as it is or something that's brushed off".

"This is a major thing to go through... and it's keeping my cancer at bay – but that doesn't mean it's not hard," she said.

Warden added that while some support was available through the NHS and charities, it was not that easy to come across.

"We shouldn't just have to get on with it – there should be that support," she said.

"Fighting cancer is exhausting. The menopause is also exhausting so any little thing that can be done to make [our] lives easier is really important, because I have to live with this for the rest of my life."

Laura Woods, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, described being "plunged" into menopause aged 30 as "like hitting a brick wall".

She had life-saving treatment for cervical cancer and said the only mention of early menopause and infertility as side effects of that had been "a five-minute chat and a few lines on the consent form at the hospital".

Now 41, she said: "I suffered in silence – the brain fog, hot flushes, vaginal dryness and reduced libido – but my husband had to navigate those things with me."

Now a clinical team lead at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, she also works as a counsellor for charity the Daisy Network, which provides information and support for women diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI).

"Charities like this and Menopause and Cancer are game-changers – both for those going through this and health care professionals," she added.

"My hope is that in the future things really change."

Dr Susanna Unsworth, a specialist physician at Cambridge University Hospitals and menopause specialist, said Addenbrooke's Hospital was seeing more "younger women who are diagnosed and often their treatment is wanting to suppress their hormones and will bring about a menopause".

She added: "I think often they are very unprepared for it, as they are not expecting this to happen.

"We do need to think about the health implications for these women."

She said a clinic at Addenbrooke's had been set up to help women prepare for potential early menopause.

Another charity, Maggie's, offers support free to anyone with cancer and their families and has centres at some NHS hospitals.

Lisa Punt, centre head of Maggie's Cambridge, said "menopause within a cancer setting is very difficult".

She added: "When we go through a natural menopause our levels fall off at a very steady rate and they never go to zero.

"When people have a treatment-induced menopause then their levels fall off to zero, so no hormones at all, so the impact is much more abrupt."

On cancer treatments, she said: "It's about ensuring that people are aware that this [menopause] is a possibility; these are changes that will happen and that these are the resources."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "No woman should feel left without support after cancer treatment, and we recognise the impact that treatment-induced menopause can have on young women, both physically and emotionally.

"Our renewed Women's Health Strategy also makes menopause care a core priority, shifting support into primary and community settings so it's easier to access closer to home."

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