Drugs for uterine fibroids

  Since uterine fibroids are associated with estrogen, most of the drugs used to treat fibroids are related to lowering estrogen levels or antagonizing estrogen. Commonly used drugs are: i. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) GnRHa can cause amenorrhea in most patients, and three months of treatment can reduce the size of fibroids by about 35-65%, but within a few months of stopping the drug, the size of fibroids will gradually return to the size before treatment. Therefore the effect is temporary and is mainly used for large myomas undergoing laparoscopic surgery or hysteroscopic surgery difficult to reduce the size of the myoma after surgery can reduce the difficulty of surgery.  Aromatase inhibitors can reduce tissue ovarian and peripheral estrogen production and decrease estrogen levels after 1 day of use. Based on their mechanism of action, these drugs have a faster onset of action, but have far fewer side effects than GnRH analogs. Several small studies and case reports have observed that aromatase inhibitors reduce the size and symptoms of uterine fibroids.  Mifepristone Mifepristone’s anti-progestational activity acts on higher than normal levels of progesterone receptors in uterine fibroids. Several studies have shown that high doses of mifepristone can reduce the size of fibroids by approximately 26-74%. The effect is comparable to the use of gonadotropin analogs and the recurrence rate of fibroids is lower after discontinuation of mifepristone. The amenorrhea rate after mifepristone is up to 90%, and bone density remains stable while pelvic compression improves. Side effects of mifepristone include endometrial hyperplasia, endometrial cancer, and transient elevated transaminase levels.  In conclusion, there is a lack of a simple, inexpensive, safe and effective long-term drug treatment option for uterine fibroids, which means that symptomatic fibroids are mainly treated surgically.