Diethylstilbestrol adverse effects

Stillman RJ (1982) In utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol Adverse effects on the reproductive tract and reproductive performance and male and female offspring. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 142 905-921. 

In a randomized study of men treated hormonally for prostatic cancer (3), cardiovascular adverse effects were reported more often in patients treated with diethylstilbestrol than in those treated with cyproterone acetate. The risk was highest during the first 6 months of treatment. 

Diethylstilbestrol has been widely used as a post-coital contraceptive. However, it is no longer in use in many countries for this purpose, because of the possible adverse effect on the development of a surviving fetus (see separate monograph). 

Estrogens Diethylstilbestrol Estradiol Others Advanced, inoperable breast cancer in selected men and postmenopausal women advanced, inoperable prostate cancer in men Cardiovascular complications [including stroke and heart attack-espe-cially in men] many other adverse effects [see Chapter 30]... 

Androgen-dependent carcinoma. Diethylstilbestrol (stilboestrol) is rarely used to treat prostate cancer because of its adverse effects. It is occasionally used in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Toxicity is common. 

Diethylstilbestrol was used extensively in pregnancies between 1940 and about 1975, in the belief that it could protect threatened pregnancies and counter the risk of spontaneous abortion. Toward the end of that period, increasingly clear evidence emerged that diethylstilbestrol could have an adverse effect on the second generation that... 

Some studies have found that resveratrol exhibited a weak estrogenic activity in vitro [107]. Indeed, resveratrol was shown to have a low affinity for the estrogen receptor, about 5 orders of magnitude lower than diethylstilbestrol and estradiol [104]. However, a recent in vivo uterotrophic assay with immature female rats was negative [108]. Moreover, the administration of resveratrol at a dose of 0.75 g kg day to pregnant rats did not induce any adverse effects on embryo-fetal survival and development [104], The no observed adverse effect... 

Newbold, R.R., Padilla-Banks, E., Jefferson, W.N., 2006. Adverse effects of the model environmental estrogen diethylstilbestrol are transmitted to subsequent generations. Endocrinology 147 (6 Suppl.), S11-S17. 

The parenteral formulation diethylstilbestrol diphosphate is less commonly used than the oral formulation. In Japan, 24 elderly patients with advanced relapsed prostatic cancer were treated with high doses supplemented with ethi-nylestradiol (doses unclear) there was some slight therapeutic effect, but there were gastrointestinal symptoms and fluid retention (48). Also in Japan, a few patients with advanced disease were treated using intravenous diethylstilbestrol diphosphate 500 mg/day for 20 consecutive days to a total dose of 10 g the authors conclusion was more positive but adverse events were not specified (49). 

There are also reports that human testicular and breast cancer rates have been increasing during the last four decades, especially in developed countries. However, except in a few cases (e.g., diethylstilbestrol), a causal relation between exposure to chemicals and adverse health effect in humans has not been firmly established. 

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