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Long-term cancer risk in women given diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy
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  • Open Access
  • Published: 03 January 2001

Long-term cancer risk in women given diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy

  • L Titus-Ernstoff1,
  • E E Hatch2,
  • R N Hoover2,
  • J Palmer3,
  • E R Greenberg1,4,
  • W Ricker5,
  • R Kaufman6,
  • K Noller7,
  • A L Herbst8,
  • T Colton9 &
  • …
  • P Hartge3 

British Journal of Cancer volume 84, pages 126–133 (2001)Cite this article

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Abstract

From 1940 through the 1960s, diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic oestrogen, was given to pregnant women to prevent pregnancy complications and losses. Subsequent studies showed increased risks of reproductive tract abnormalities, particularly vaginal adenocarcinoma, in exposed daughters. An increased risk of breast cancer in the DES-exposed mothers was also found in some studies. In this report, we present further follow-up and a combined analysis of two cohorts of women who were exposed to DES during pregnancy. The purpose of our study was to evaluate maternal DES exposure in relation to risk of cancer, particularly tumours with a hormonal aetiology. DES exposure status was determined by a review of medical records of the Mothers Study cohort or clinical trial records of the Dieckmann Study. Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the relationship between DES and cancer occurrence. The study results demonstrated a modest association between DES exposure and breast cancer risk, RR = 1.27 (95% CI = 1.07–1.52). The increased risk was not exacerbated by a family history of breast cancer, or by use of oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy. We found no evidence that DES was associated with risk of ovarian, endometrial or other cancer. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign

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  • 16 November 2011

    This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH 03756

    L Titus-Ernstoff & E R Greenberg

  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892

    E E Hatch & R N Hoover

  3. Slone Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Public Health, Brookline, MA 02446-4955

    J Palmer & P Hartge

  4. Department of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH 03756

    E R Greenberg

  5. Information Management Services, Rockville, MD 20852

    W Ricker

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030

    R Kaufman

  7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111

    K Noller

  8. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

    A L Herbst

  9. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA

    T Colton

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From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

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Titus-Ernstoff, L., Hatch, E., Hoover, R. et al. Long-term cancer risk in women given diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy. Br J Cancer 84, 126–133 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2000.1521

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  • Received: 19 July 2000

  • Revised: 29 August 2000

  • Accepted: 30 August 2000

  • Published: 03 January 2001

  • Issue Date: 05 January 2001

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2000.1521

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Keywords

  • DES
  • oestrogens
  • breast cancer
  • endometrial cancer
  • ovarian cancer
  • cancer

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