Treatment of endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain with letrozole and norethindrone acetate: a pilot study

Regulation of Aromatase Expression in Estrogen-Responsive Breast and Uterine Disease: From Bench to Treatment

“…We and others demonstrated abundant aromatase expression and local estrogen production in endometriotic tissue (Kitawaki et al, 1997;Bulun et al, 2001;Gurates et al, 2002;Yang et al, 2002). The subsequent introduction of aromatase inhibitors in the treatment of endometriosis successfully underscored the presence of aromatase in endometriotic tissue (Takayama et al, 1998;Ailawadi et al, 2004). These recent results suggested that aromatase inhibitors might treat endometriosis more effectively than GnRH analogs via suppression of local estrogen formation in endometriotic tissue.…”

“…Among these inhibitors, anastrozole and letrozole were used successfully to treat endometriosis in both postmenopausal and premenopausal women (Takayama et al, 1998;Ailawadi et al, 2004;Razzi et al, 2004;Shippen and West, 2004;Soysal et al, 2004).…”

A Severe Case of Recurrent External Endometriosis in An Ovariectomized Young Woman

“…Recently, in a phase-two, open-label, nonrandomized proof-ofconcept study [10], a combination of letrozole and norethindrone acetate markedly reduced laparoscopically-visible and histologically-confirmed endometriosis in ten reproductive-age patients and significantly improved pain relief in nine out of ten women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain who had previously not responded to currently available treatment. …”

Endometriosis - An Update

“…Aromatase inhibitors inhibit the growth of endometriotic implants by suppressing this enzyme 33 . In one study, aromatase inhibitors letrozole 2.5mg per day with calcium and vitamin D for six months caused marked reduction of laparoscopic visible lesion and significant reduction of pelvic pain with no changes in BMD 34 .…”