Treatment for Uterine Fibroids: Searching for Effective Drug Therapies
- PMID: 23264802
- PMCID: PMC3525705
- DOI: 10.1016/j.ddstr.2012.06.001
Treatment for Uterine Fibroids: Searching for Effective Drug Therapies
Abstract
Uterine fibroids are common reproductive-age benign tumors that contribute to severe morbidity and infertility. Cumulative incidence is 4 times higher in Africian-Americans compared to Caucasians and constitutes a major health disparity challenge. Fibroids are the leading indication for hysterectomy and their management averages $21 billion annually in the US. No long term minimally invasive therapies exist. Thus, promising drug therapies, their chemistry, pharmacology, and clinical efficacy, focusing first on innovative drug delivery approaches, are reviewed.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Figures
References
-
-
Carrino DA, et al. Proteoglycans of uterine fibroids and keloid scars: Similarity in their proteoglycan composition. Biochem. J. 2012;443:361–368. This report presents evidence that uterine fibroids are characterized by disarrayed collagen fibrils strikingly similar to those of keloid scars. The authors find that keloids are a form of excessive dermal fibrosis demonstrating abnormal wound-healing response in certain individuals; they form after skin trauma such as surgery; they tend to develop during and after puberty and in women symptoms of keloids disappear after menopause; they produce high levels of collagen, and fibronectin; they are characterized as resisting apoptosis and thus continue to produce collagen.
-
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources