Study elucidates health risks for DES daughters

The synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) was widely prescribed in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s to prevent miscarriage and premature delivery. Its dangers were first revealed in the early 1970s, when Harvard-affiliated researchers linked the drug to a rare cancer of the vagina and cervix in the daughters of women who took DES while pregnant. In 1971, the FDA issued a warning against its use by pregnant women, but five to 10 million pregnant women and their babies had already been exposed. In the following decades, many other health problems were discovered among DES daughters. A report from the DES Follow-up Study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine (Oct. 6, 2011), documents the health risks for these women.

The study. In 1992, researchers contacted women who had participated in one of three studies of DES daughters undertaken in the 1970s. They recruited 4,653 women who had been exposed to DES in utero for a follow-up study, along with a control group of 1,927 women who had not been exposed. Using questionnaires, phone interviews, and medical records, the researchers assessed the cumulative risk for 12 health problems linked to DES exposure in earlier studies.