Aromatase inhibitors in post-menopausal endometriosis

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology

Review

Dimitra Kyrou¹  Basil Tarlatzis¹  Grigoris Grimbizis¹  Juan-Garcia Velasco²  Apostolos Zavos³  Nikolaos P Polyzos³  Human M Fatemi⁴  Paul Devroey⁴  Evangelos G Papanikolaou⁵ 

[1] First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Perifereiaki Odos Thessalonikis-N. Efkarpias, 564 29,, Thessaloniki, Greece;IVI, Madrid,, Avenida Talgo,68, 28023, Madrid, Spain;OB-GYN University Clinic,, University Hospital of Larissa,, Larissa, Greece;University Hospital, Dutch speaking Free University of Brussels,, Laarbeeklaan 101,, 1090, Brussels, Belgium;University Hospital, Dutch speaking Free University of Brussels,, Laarbeeklaan 101,, 1090, Brussels, Belgium;Human Reproduction and Genetics Foundation,, Adrianoupoleos 6, Kalamaria, 55133, Thessaloniki, Greece;

关键词: Bone Mineral Density;    Endometriosis;    Aromatase Inhibitor;    Letrozole;    Anastrozole;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7827-9-90

 received in 2010-12-24, accepted in 2011-06-21,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Postmenopausal endometriosis is a rare clinical condition. The diagnosis and treatment of an endometriotic lesion in postmenopausal women is complicated. First line treatment choice should be surgical, given that there is a potential risk of malignancy. Medical treatment may be considered as second line or as an alternate first line treatment whenever surgery is contradicted and aims to alter the hormonal pathway leading to endometriosis progress. Different hormonal regimens have been administered to these patients, with conflicting however results. Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) represent one of the most recently used drugs for postmenopausal endometriosis. Clinical data for the use of (AIs) in postmenopausal patients is scarce. Up to date only 5 case reports are available regarding the use of these agents in postmenopausal women. Although definite conclusions may be premature, AIs appear to considerably improve patients' symptoms and reduce endometriotic lesions size. Nonetheless the subsequent induced reduction in estrogen production, leads to certain short-term and long-term adverse effects. Despite the limited available data, AIs appear to represent a new promising method which may improve symptoms and treat these patients, either as first line treatment, when surgery is contraindicated or as a second line for recurrences following surgical treatment. However, careful monitoring of patients' risk profile and further research regarding long-term effects and side-effects of these agents is essential prior implementing them in everyday clinical practice.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Polyzos et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.