Diethylstilbestrol third-generation effects

The current difficulty in many reports of second-generation complications is to determine whether the mother actually took diethylstilbestrol during her pregnancy. In a case of a very large clear-cell carcinoma of the cervix in a teenager with no known history of maternal use of diethylstilbestrol, in view of the dates it was likely to have been non-drug-related, but the possibility of third-generation effects must also be borne in mind (13). 

Even more disconcerting than the second-generation effects in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy is the possibility of third-generation effects. There is no certainty regarding these, but worrying cases have been reported at intervals over the last thirty years or more (SED-14,1449). 

Lynch HT, Quinn T, Severin MJ. Diethylstilbestrol, terato-genesis and carcinogenesis medical/legal implications of its long-term sequelae, including third-generation effects. Int J Risk Safety Med 1990 1 171. 

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