Uterine fibroids

Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids or myomas), benign tumours of the human uterus , are the single most common indication for hysterectomy, They are clinical ly apparent in up to 25% of women and cause significant morbidity, includin g prolonged or heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pressure or pain, and, in r are cases, reproductive dysfunction. Thus, both the economic cost and the e ffect on quality of life are substantial. Surgery has been the mainstay of fibroid treatment, and various minimally invasive procedures have been deve loped in addition to hysterectomy and abdominal myomectomy, Formation of ne w leiomyomas after these conservative therapies remains a substantial probl em, Although medications that manipulate concentrations of steroid hormones are effective, side-effects limit long-term use, A better approach may be manipulation of the steroid-hormone environment with specific hormone antag onists, There has been little evidence-based evaluation of therapy, New res earch into the basic biology of these neoplasms may add new treatment optio ns for the future as the role of growth factors and genetic mutations in th ese tumours are better understood.