Pill Treats Painful Fibroids
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
June 30, 2010 — A drug used in Europe as emergency contraception may also treat painful uterine fibroids, researchers say.
Their study was presented at the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome, Italy.
As many as 80% of all women have uterine fibroids (noncancerous growths in the uterus), according to the nonprofit National Uterine Fibroids Foundation. Fibroids may cause severe abdominal pain, heavy bleeding, and interfere with fertility in some women. Surgery is often the only way to treat painful, bleeding fibroids, but surgery too can sometimes compromise fertility.
Enter EllaOne, a member of a new class of drugs called selective progesterone receptor modulators. As of now, EllaOne is used in Europe as a morning-after pill because it blocks the effects of key hormones — namely progesterone — involved in ovulation. It is effective for up to five days after unprotected sex. Although EllaOne is not available in the U.S., an FDA advisory panel recently voted that it should be. The new drug is manufactured by HRA Pharma, a European pharmaceutical company, which provided funding for the new study. The hormone progesterone also feeds uterine fibroids, so blocking its effects may help treat painful fibroids.
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