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| image credit: pelvicpain.com.au |
Endometriosis -- a condition caused by uterine tissue growing outside of the organ -- affects 10% of reproductive-aged women, whom it causes chronic pain that is significant and debilitating. The standard first-line treatment for all women with endometriosis is hormonal, specifically progestin-based, therapy.
Yet a team of researchers at Yale has shown that the effectiveness of progestin-therapy depends on whether a woman's endometriotic lesions have the progesterone receptor (PR) present. This study appears online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The researchers tested the endometriotic lesions of 52 women who had undergone surgical evaluation for endometriosis at Yale New Haven Hospital for their PR status. They found a significant association between PR status and responsiveness to progestin-therapy. Those whose endometriotic lesions were PR-positive responded much better to the progestin-therapy, while those whose lesions were PR-negative found little relief from progestin-therapy alone.
Yet a team of researchers at Yale has shown that the effectiveness of progestin-therapy depends on whether a woman's endometriotic lesions have the progesterone receptor (PR) present. This study appears online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The researchers tested the endometriotic lesions of 52 women who had undergone surgical evaluation for endometriosis at Yale New Haven Hospital for their PR status. They found a significant association between PR status and responsiveness to progestin-therapy. Those whose endometriotic lesions were PR-positive responded much better to the progestin-therapy, while those whose lesions were PR-negative found little relief from progestin-therapy alone.
