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Lesions of the Female Genital System Caused by Diethylstilbestrol in Humans, Subhuman Primates, and Mice

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Genital System

Part of the book series: Monographs on Pathology of Laboratory Animals ((LABORATORY))

Abstract

From 1945 to 1971 diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen, was used extensively to prevent abortion in pregnant women. This use was discontinued when clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina in young women was associated with their exposure to DES in utero (Herbst et al. 1971). It is estimated that 500000 to 2000000 infants were exposed (Noller and Fish 1974). Examination of the exposed population has uncovered long-term effects in women, the oldest of whom are now beginning the 5th decade of life. These include a low incidence of the clear cell cancer (Herbst et al. 1977) and an increased incidence of cervical and vaginal intraepithelial squamous-cell neoplasia (Robboy et al. 1984).

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Authors
  1. Lorna D. Johnson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, One Pine Hill Drive, 01772, Southborough, MA, USA

    Thomas Carlyle Jones D.V.M., D.Sc. (Professor of Comparative Pathology, Emeritus) & Ronald Duncan Hunt D.V.M. (Professor of Comparative Pathology) (Professor of Comparative Pathology, Emeritus) &  (Professor of Comparative Pathology)

  2. Institut für Experimentelle Pathologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Konstanty-Gutschow-Strasse 8, 3000, Hannover 61, Federal Republic of Germany

    Ulrich Mohr M.D. (Professor of Experimental Pathology) (Professor of Experimental Pathology)

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Johnson, L.D. (1987). Lesions of the Female Genital System Caused by Diethylstilbestrol in Humans, Subhuman Primates, and Mice. In: Jones, T.C., Mohr, U., Hunt, R.D. (eds) Genital System. Monographs on Pathology of Laboratory Animals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72550-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72550-0_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-72552-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-72550-0

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