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Read more about Fred Hutch achievements and accolades.
By Kristen Woodward / Fred Hutch News Service
Hot flashes. Night sweats. These are the most common – or at least the most commonly talked about – symptoms of menopause. But one reality of The Change for many women is less discussed yet no less important: problems with vaginal health and sexual function.
In an effort to shed light on this chapter of women’s lives, Dr. Katherine A. Guthrie, a biostatistician in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is co-leading a $7 million grant for a multicenter clinical trial that will compare popular treatments for menopause-related vaginal symptoms ranging from dryness and atrophy (thinning and shrinking of the tissues) to itching, irritation and painful intercourse.
Specifically, the researchers will compare two common treatments – a vaginal hormonal pill (Vagifem) and an over-the-counter gel (Replens) with placebos to evaluate their effects on bothersome vaginal symptoms and decreased sexual function. The clinical trials, which will involve 300 women between the ages of 45 and 70, will be conducted via clinical trial sites at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“Neither intervention is new, but this is the first adequately powered, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparative-effectiveness trial of hormonal and non-hormonal treatments for postmenopausal vaginal symptoms,” Guthrie said.
Up to 40 percent of postmenopausal women have symptoms presumed to be related to vaginal atrophy, and an estimated 75 percent of these women also report vaginal dryness, Guthrie said.
“Despite the high prevalence of postmenopausal vaginal symptoms, data to guide treatment choices is extremely limited,” she said.
To this end, another aim of the grant is to build a set of comprehensive, evidence-based, user-friendly and widely available multimedia resources that would give women and health providers access to the latest clinical trial results evaluating the effectiveness of treatments for vaginal atrophy. “Our goal is to facilitate informed decision-making for managing menopausal symptoms,” she said.
The researchers also plan to establish a biorepository for vaginal and blood specimens to investigate the relationships of the postmenopausal vaginal microbiome, vaginal mucosal inflammation and estrogen levels with the effectiveness of treatment for vaginal atrophy.
According to Guthrie, the number of U.S. women over age 65 is expected to double by 2022 – along with the prevalence of menopause-related vaginal symptoms.
“With new therapies for male sexual dysfunction, female partners with genitourinary atrophy are more apt to need treatment for vaginal symptoms to maintain partner intimacy without pain,” she said. She and her colleagues hope this study will provide the necessary information to help inform treatment decision-making.
The five-year study is co-led by Dr. Andrea LaCroix, formerly a Women’s Health Initiative investigator at Fred Hutch who now directs the Women’s Health Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego; and Dr. Susan Reed, director of the Women’s Reproductive Health Research Program at the University of Washington. It represents continued funding of MsFLASH, a clinical trials network launched in 2008 by the National Institute on Aging to test various interventions for hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms. Since its inception, Guthrie has served as the primary statistician and since 2013 as principal investigator of the Data Coordinating Center for MsFLASH, which stands for Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health.
The initial goal of the research network was to conduct randomized trials to compare various strategies for controlling menopause-related hot flashes and night sweats. The interventions studied included low-dose estrogen, low-dose antidepressants, omega-3 fatty acid supplements, aerobic exercise, and yoga.
Guthrie and colleagues found that antidepressants (escitalopram and venlafaxine) offered as much relief as low-dose estrogen for managing vasomotor symptoms, but exercise and yoga fared no better than a placebo. They also found that antidepressants, yoga, and exercise helped improve mood, sleep, and overall quality of life.
“Our goal from the beginning has been to provide women with the tools necessary for navigating the symptoms of menopause – and beyond,” she said, “particularly non-hormonal interventions which, unlike combined hormone-replacement therapy, are not associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and other health risks.”
Grad student Biswajit Paul receives Best Oral Presentation award at SACNAS conference
Fred Hutch graduate student Biswajit “Bish” Paul received the award for "Best Oral Presentation in Cell Molecular Biology" at the annual meeting of the Society for Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, or SACNAS, held last week in Washington, D.C.
Paul is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Molecular & Cellular Biology Program, an interdisciplinary program offered through Fred Hutch and the University of Washington in partnership with the Institute of Systems Biology and the Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly known as Seattle BioMed). He works in the laboratory of Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem in the Clinical Research Division, where his work focuses on gene editing in CD4 T cells to establish protection from HIV infection. This work was the topic of his award-winning talk.
Paul is an active volunteer with Hutch United, a group for underrepresented and self-identified minority scientists at Fred Hutch, which sponsored his attendance at the SACNAS conference. He identifies as a queer, immigrant scientist-of-color from a low-income background.
Fred Hutch’s Design and User Experience team wins 19 MarCom awards
From interactive exhibits to online and print materials, Fred Hutch’s Design and User Experience team has won 19 MarCom Creative Awards, which recognize outstanding design in traditional and emerging media.
The team, housed in the Communications & Marketing Department, took seven platinum, six gold and six honorable mention awards.
Platinum awards included design related to the opening of the interactive Visitor Center (in collaboration with Studio Matthews), the Fred Hutch 40th anniversary block party and a bone marrow transplantation infographic. Platinum honors also went to an illustration that accompanied a Fred Hutch News Service article called “I speak computer: Making medical information Big Data-ready,” the “Share Your Story” microsite on fredhutch.org and Hutch Magazine (a special bone marrow transplant issue).
Gold awards included invitations to the Hutch Holiday Gala and Hutch Award Luncheon, an illustration to accompany a Fred Hutch News Service article called “The diet dilemma,” and a Fred Hutch “DNA” birthday card.
“These awards wouldn’t be possible without great content. We’re grateful for all our creative collaborations, both within our department and across campus,” said Celeste Bernard, director of Design and User Experience.
The international competition for creative professionals is administered by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. This year’s competition included about 6,000 entries from throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Kristen Woodward, a science editor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has been in communications and media relations at Fred Hutch for more than 15 years. Before that, she was a managing editor at the University of Michigan Health System and a reporter/editor at The Holland Sentinel, a daily in western Michigan. She has received many national awards for health and science writing. She received her B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University. Reach her at kwoodwar@fredhutch.org.
