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Query: UMLS:C0476089 (endometrial cancer)
 11,379 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An overview of the risk of developing cancer related to oral contraceptive (o.c.) use is presented. A committee of experts affiliated with WHO studied the problem of developing cancer related to o.c. use. O.c. use for more than 2 years prevents the formation of benign breast tumors, even after discontinuing o.c. use. The effect is due to the progestin component. There is no clear indication that o.c. use increases the risk of breast cancer. A higher risk of endometrial cancer is associated with sequential preparation use, but not with the use of combination preparations. Cervical neoplasms and pituitary adenoma may be more frequent among predisposed women who use o.c.s. Studies show a reduced risk of ovarian cancer with o.c. use, but more studies are necessary. There is a marked increase in the relative risk of developing hepatocellular adenoma among women who use o.c.s for longer than 3 years. The risk increases with the hormone dosage, the duration of treatment, and the age of the patient. There is no reliable data to indicate that the risk of malignant melanoma increases with o.c. use. More study is needed to determine the possible cancer risks of injection preparations. Combination preparations can cause an increased risk of vaginal epithelial metaplasia. Diethylstilbestrol taken during early pregnancy can cause vaginal neoplasms in the offspring. More epidemiological studies and clinical and laboratory studies on the carcinogenic effects of o.c.s and the endocrinological effects of o.c.s on younger women should be undertaken. It is recommended that o.c.s with the lowest possible hormone dosages be used. O.c.s should not be prescribed to women with vaginal adenosis.
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PMID:[Oral contraceptives and the risk of neoplasms]. 44 57

The most important short-term uses of estrogen are in the control of vasomotor disturbances, often called hot flashes, and in the therapy of athrophic vaginitis. Dosage should be as low as possible and on a cyclic basis. Estrogens can be employed cyclically but for an unpredictable term in the case of hypogonadism, female castration, and especially in the treatment of osteoporosis. The synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) is used as a contraceptive after coitus, in a large dose and within 72 hours, since it inhibits implantation of the fertilized ovum in the uterus. The use of estrogens in controlling some of the emotional conditions prior to menopause is not advisable, but they can be helpful in controlling acne and to arrest uterine bleeding. Conversely, estrogens have been shown to be associated with vaginal adenosis, and with clear cell carcinoma in girls whose mothers had been given DES during pregnancy; also with endometrial carcinoma in postmenopausal women who had taken the drug for years. The association between estrogens and breast cancer is still not clear, since the drug produces different results in different patients. Since estrogens increase blood coagulability their use is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism and cardiovascular accidents. In prescribing estrogens physicians must evaluate each patient carefully, and require regular visits at six month intervals.
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PMID:Estrogens: their function, uses and hazards. Part 2. 62 3

The course of development of the human genital tract is undifferentiated up to the 9th week (32 mm). At this time both Wolffian (mesonephric) and Mullerian (paramesonephric) ducts are present as symmetric paired structures. These, together with the urogenital sinus and the metanephric ducts, provide the tissue sources for the internal genital and urinary apparatus, exclusive of the gonads and kidneys. Configuration of the oviducts varies among species. Most human anomalies may be represented in other species so that some authors consider them to be atavistic reversions. The gonad of the developing male fetus plays a critical role in the formation of the genital tract. It elaborates androgenic steroids and a polypeptide, a Mullerian inhibiting substance, which induced suppression and resorotion of the Mullerian ducts. In the female the Mullerian ducts grow and develop into their adult morphology while the Wolffian ducts persist only as microscopic islands. The development of the external genitals and secondary sex characteristics depends upon further exposure to androgenic or estrogenic hormone milieu. a case is reported of an instance of congenital absence of the upper vagina. At laparotomy normal sized uterus, tubes, and ovaries were found. Further plastic surgery via the vagina corrected the condition. 15 years later (age 32) it was learned that she had been married and had 3 pregnancies. The adenosis, areas of squamous metaplasia, and deformities of the cervix of girls exposed in utero to diethylestibestrol are examples of deranged development. The shallow depth or absence of the vaginal canal of individuals with testicular feminization are also due to faulty development. Both Mullerian tissue and that of the urogenital sinus origin normally participate in the development of the vagina. In the normal adult the squamous cells that line the vagina contain abundant glycogen indicating urogenital origin. Glycogen-deficient squamous cells and adenosis are thought to be of Mullerian origin. In an accompanying discussion additional details of development are mentioned. It was noted that 7 cases of adenocarcinoma of the prostatic utricle in males have been reported as resembling endometrial carcinoma. The prostatic utricle is a homologue of the uterus and upper vagina and may be involved in similar deranged developments
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PMID:The embryologic development of the human vagina. 103 67

This reply to a letter criticizing the author's article on Depo-Provera use which appeared in the same publication argues that proponents of Depo-Provera have misled the public about its suitability for wide use. Because many Thai women have already used Depo-Provera for a decade or more, because it takes 10 times as much Depo-Provera to produce the same blood level in monkeys as in humans, and because tribal women in Thailand weighing less than 45 kg routinely received 6 month doses of 450 mg, 3 times the 3 month dose, any difference between the doses given experimental monkeys and village women is marginal. The study by McDaniel and Potts of women with endometrial cancer hospitalized in Chiang Mai and Lumpoon Provinces which examined Depo-Provera use among them had too small a sample to detect less than a 20-fold relative risk; moreover, very few cases of endometrial cancer actually came in for treatment. Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and norgesterone produce a situation similar to early menopause in which the uterus is atrophic because ovulation has ceased, but estrogen production continues and the endometrium is stimulated. Menopausal women are at high risk of developing endometrial cancer. Research literature suggests that the reproductive systems of breastfed infants are vulnerable to longterm action of DMPA in milk. Babies exposed in utero may be at risk of vaginal adenosis or cardiovascular malformations. Giving Depo-Provera to mothers of nursing babies violates the restrictions on use of children in medical experiments evolved after the Nuremburg trials. The hostility of population control activists to critics concerned about cancer evidence may prevent abnormal conditions from being looked for. It is suggested that DMPA experimenters experiment on themselves for 10 years while a moratorium on use of Depo-Provera is observed until the results are available.
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PMID:Reply to Dr. Edwin B. McDaniel. Exaggerated claims of depo-provera safety. 622 51

Hormones have been shown experimentally to act as cocarcinogens or promoters, i.e., they facilitate the carcinogenic event. In the cases of breast and endometrium, those hormones that facilitate growth may also favor carcinogenesis in the human. There is good epidemiologic evidence that use of estrogens after the menopause increases the incidence of breast and endometrial cancer, the risk increasing with increasing duration of use. Periodic progestin-induced withdrawal will probably mitigate the risk of endometrial cancer after the menopause. Prolactin is the important promoter of mammary cancer in the rat and mouse, but its significance in women is still under study. Intermittently elevated prolactin levels have been noted in some women who subsequently developed breast cancer, but epidemiologic studies of women who have received prolactin-releasing drugs such as reserpine and perphenazine have not disclosed increased risk. Diethylstilbestrol is listed as a carcinogen but any estrogen can induce mammary cancer in the rodent or vaginal adenosis in the neonatal mouse (an experimental model of human vaginal adenocarcinoma).
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PMID:Hormones, medications, and cancer. 685 May 19

This is a general discussion of commonly seen oncology problems in gynecology for the general practitioner and the nongynecologic specialist. Vaginal, cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancer are discussed. Studies have shown a possible relationship between perinatal exposure to DES(diethylstilbestrol) and clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix in young women. Of the more than 350 reported cases of this previously rare disease, 2/3 had a history of in utero exposure to DES. 80-90% of all exposed women show adenosis of the vagina. There is no evidence, however, that it is a precursor of cancer and no examples of the progression have been cited. All DES-exposed daughters should have yearly PAP smears and iodine staining or colposcopy of the vagina. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists differs from the American Cancer Society in recommending yearly PAP smears to detect cervical cancer. There is no risk and no morbidity with the smear. Only the cost is a consideration. Endometrial cancer accounts for 7% of all cancers in women, occurring in 2.2% of all women. Survival rates with this type of cancer are 68% at 5 years. Some studies have implicated the use of postmenopausal estrogens with the etiology of endometrial cancer. Any abnormal bleeding should be checked. Ovarian cancer presents in more advanced stages and has a survival rate at 5 years of only 25%. Surgery and chemotherapy are the prescribed treatment for each of these cancers.
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PMID:Gynecological malignancy. 724 64