Anastrazole and oral contraceptives: a novel treatment for endometriosis

Amsterdam LL, Lisa L. Amsterdam, William L. Gentry, Gentry W, William Gentry, Jobanputra S, Smeta Jobanputra, Wolf M, Michael Wolf, Stephen D. Rubin, Rubin SD, Serdar E. Bulun, Bulun Se
Fertility and sterility · 2005 · vol. 84(2) , pp. 300–304 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.02.018 · PMID:16084868 · W2154048255
Non-randomised trial OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 163 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This paper explores the combined use of anastrozole and oral contraceptives as a potential novel treatment for endometriosis.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To establish the use of aromatase inhibitors as a therapeutic option for endometriosis. DESIGN: Prospective open-label Food and Drug Administration phase 2 trial with Institutional Review Board approval. SETTING: Outpatient tertiary care centers. PATIENT(S): Fifteen premenopausal patients with documented refractory endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. INTERVENTION(S): After a 1-month washout of endometriosis hormone therapies, women took 1 mg anastrazole (Arimidex; AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE) and one tablet of 20 microg ethinyl estradiol/0.1 mg levonorgestrel (Alesse; Wyeth, Madison, NJ) daily for 6 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): An analog pain scale recorded pelvic pain in daily diaries and surveys at baseline and after each treatment month. Side effects, blood counts, liver and renal function tests, cholesterol levels, and bone density were monitored. RESULT(S): Fourteen of 15 patients achieved significant pain reduction. Median pain scores decreased 55% after 6 months, while mean pain scores decreased 40%. Pain reduction comparing each treatment month to baseline achieved statistical significance. Average pain scores began dropping after only 1 treatment month and continued decreasing each additional month. No organ system experienced adverse effects. Estradiol levels were suppressed during treatment. Side effects were mild and improved over time. CONCLUSION(S): Fourteen of 15 patients with refractory endometriosis achieved significant pain relief using anastrazole and 20 microg ethinyl estradiol/0.1 mg levonorgestrel with minimal side effects. This treatment for endometriosis is a promising new modality that warrants further investigation.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Contraceptives, Oral Endometriosis Nitriles Triazoles Adult Adult Anastrozole Anastrozole Contraceptives, Oral Contraceptives, Oral Drug Therapy, Combination Drug Therapy, Combination Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Humans Humans Middle Aged

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (15)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

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License: CC0 · commercial use OK