DES mothers have a 30% higher risk of breast cancer
2002 Study Abstract
Diethylstilbestrol (DES), the first orally active artificial estrogen ever developed, was prescribed to several million pregnant women during the 1940s through the 1960s in the mistaken belief that it reduced the risk of miscarriage.
In 1971, the US Food and Drug Administration contraindicated its use in pregnancy when DES was associated with the development of vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) in daughters exposed in utero.
In daughters whose mothers took DES during pregnancy, the drug has been associated with congenital malformations of the reproductive tract, fertility problems, a possible increased risk of cervical carcinoma in situ, and a presumed lifetime risk of vaginal and cervical CCA.
DES mothers have an increased risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.3).
DES sons have an increased prevalence of urogenital anomalies, and a possible increased risk of testicular cancer.
Sources
- DES exposure and the aging woman: mothers and daughters, Current women’s health reports, NCBI PubMed PMID: 12215312, 2002 Oct.
- Image credit eberhard grossgasteiger.
DES DIETHYLSTILBESTROL RESOURCES
- Source DES and breast cancer studies.
- Diethylstilbestrol DES studies listed by topics and date of publication.