A CONTRACEPTIVE device has been adapted to treat a form of cancer of the uterus, avoiding the need for surgery.
Women with endometrial cancer, which affects the lining of the uterus, usually have to have a hysterectomy. Hormone pills may be offered instead, but this can lead to side effects such as nausea, headache and abnormal bleeding.
Lucas Minig, now at the in Spain, used a hormone-releasing intrauterine device (IUD) to treat 14 women with endometrial cancer (EC) and 20 with atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) β a precursor of EC. The IUD releases a synthetic form of progesterone, thought to cause cell death at high doses. βBy acting directly on the tumour, it avoids painful side effects,β Minig says. The women also received monthly injections of GnRH, a hormone which halts the production of oestrogen, thought to stimulate tumour growth.
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βThe IUD acts directly on the tumour and avoids the side effects seen with oral hormone therapyβ
After a year, eight of the women with EC and all but one of those with AEH were cancer-free. Of these 27 women, nine went on to bear children (Annals of Oncology, ).
