Pregnancy drug (DES) doubles risk of breast cancer

[leftchick]

http://www.newstarget.com/019907.html

NewsTarget) Boston University scientists announced today that the anti-miscarriage drug
diethylstilboestrol (DES) -- commonly prescribed from 1940 to 1975 -- could double the normal risk of breast cancer in exposed women.
In the study, disease rates were tested in around 5,000 women who were exposed to DES in the womb, and then compared to disease rates of about 2,000 women who were not. Seventy-six cases of breast cancer were identified in the DES group, while 26 were identified in the control group.

"This is really unwelcome news because so many women worldwide were prenatally exposed to DES, and they are just now approaching the age at which breast cancer becomes more common," said lead researcher Julie Palmer.

The study found that the cancer risk did not seem to change for women under the age of 40, but women over 40 were twice as likely to develop the condition. Cancer risk for participants over the age of 50 was found to be even higher.

"This study suggests that daughters of mothers who took the drug DES during their pregnancies may have a higher risk of breast cancer as they get older," said Ed Yong, a senior cancer information officer at Cancer Research UK. "But this does not mean that they will definitely develop the disease."

:(

[leftchick]

1. Another link....

I wonder how many women were exposed and don't even know it. Well, women and men because men need to be checked for cancers as well. My mother took this for three pregnancies.

<snip>

It was already known that so-called "DES-daughters" were at a greater risk of a rare form of vaginal cancer and suffered from fertility problems, including an increased chance of miscarriage. Men can also be affected.

About 200,000 women in the UK are thought to have taken DES, but it is unclear how many of their children are affected - many may have no idea their mothers took the drug.

The Boston team, in a report in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, said those affected should avoid hormone replacement therapy, due to the greater cancer risk.

Jane Kevan, of the campaign group DES Action, said the study confirmed the results of a smaller survey in 2002 that first suggested a link with breast cancer. She said: "The reaction from most of us in the group is, it's another thing to worry about. Where is it all going to end?"

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1146952006

[Divernan]

2. Drugs used in fertility treatments have never been tested for dosages Rxed

Once the FDA has approved a drug, it may be prescribed for any purpose in any amount a physician chooses. A pharmacist friend told me he was stunned the first time a woman brought in Rx's from her fertility clinic - the drugs had never been tested for the large dosages prescribed - on anyone, let alone on pregnant women with followups to determine the effects upon children, particularly as they reached puberty. One of my kids' best friends got these drugs, was seriously ill from the week she started them, throughout the pregnancy, and within a year of delivering her twins, had developed 4 different cancers and died before the babies' first birthdays. There is no federal oversight of these clinics, and the civilized medical world (Europe)refers to US fertility programs as the Wild West of medicine. It is sad that anyone feels so strongly the need to reproduce that they would put their own lives at stake, as well as risking their children's health.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. My mom had several miscarriages before she had me...

I was seriously worried that she had taken this, but luckily, ? she had a country doctor who never prescribed it. :)

[CountAllVotes]

4. this was once used as the "morning after pill"

1: JAMA. 1973 Jun 18;224(12):1581-2.

FDA considers DES safe as 'morning-after' pill.



PIP: Food and Drug Administration approval of labeling for diethylstilbestrol (DES) as a postcoital contraceptive is reported. DES is considered safe only as an emergency contraceptive measure. The recommended dose is 2.5 mg twice a day for 5 days. Treatment should be initiated 24-72 hours after coitus. It is important that the full regimen be completed, even if nausea, which is common with oral DES, is present. There is yet no evidence that DES poses a significant carcinogenic risk to the mother or the fetus. However, if treatment fails, abortion should be seriously considered because of possible teratogenic effects or carcinoma in female offspring.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12257949&dopt=Abstract

[valerief]

5. I'm no brainiac but I can't see the doubled rates.

76/5000 = .0152
26/2000 = .013