The Present and the Future of Medical Therapies for Adenomyosis: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Uterine Adenomyosis is a benign condition characterized by the presence of endometrium-like epithelial and stromal tissue in the myometrium. Several medical treatments have been proposed, but still, no guidelines directing the management of adenomyosis are available. While a hysterectomy is typically regarded as the definitive treatment for adenomyosis, the scarcity of high-quality data leaves patients desiring fertility with limited conservative options. Based on the available data, the levonorgestrel-IUD appears to offer the most favorable outcomes. Other treatments, including GnRH antagonists, dienogest, prolactin, and oxytocin modulators, show promise; however, further data are required to establish their efficacy definitively. Furthermore, there are many emerging therapies that have been developed that seem worthy of consideration in the near future. The aim of this narrative review was to explore the current medical treatments available for adenomyosis and to provide a glimpse of future therapies under assessment. For this scope, we performed a literature search on PubMed and Medline from incept to September 2022 using the keywords: "medical treatment", "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory", "progesterone intrauterine device", "dienogest", "combined oral contraceptives", "gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist", "gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist", "danazol", "aromatase inhibitors", "ulipristal acetate", "anti-platelet therapy", "dopamine", "oxytocin antagonists", "STAT3", "KRAS", "MAPK", "micro-RNA", "mifepristone", "valproic acid", "levo-tetrahydropalamatine", and "andrographolide". The search was limited to articles in English, with subsequent screening of abstracts. Abstracts were screened to select relevant studies.

Keywords: adenomyosis; gonadotropin releasing hormones; intrauterine devices; medical treatments; progesterone.

Figure 1

Flow diagram of study identification and selection.

Figure 2

Summarizing classical medical treatments for Adenomyosis. Legend: NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, LNG-IUD: Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device, OCP: Oral contraceptive pill, GnRH: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone.