In this European Endometriosis Awareness Week, hope for two new treatments comes from both Scotland and Japan.
It is a disease that has been overlooked for a long time from which many women suffer, about one in ten: endometriosis. Studies point the way to two new treatments. The explanations of Géraldine Zamansky, journalist at Health magazine on France 5.
franceinfo: With this hope of new treatments, could women who suffer from endometriosis finally be relieved?
Géraldine Zamansky : This is in any case the objective of these two projects, in progress, to fight against this disease which is linked to the endometrium. Let’s first remember that the endometrium is the tissue on the walls of the uterus that thickens to accommodate a possible embryo over the hormonal cycle. In the case of endometriosis, pieces of this tissue end up – we do not yet know how – in the abdomen and cling to various organs such as the intestine or the bladder. As these lesions continue to respond to hormones, menstrual pain is then more intense, more extensive and can become permanent due to chronic inflammation. Most often, the treatment is hormonal, with at least the equivalent of a pill that blocks the rules month after month. Side effects appear, more or less severe depending on the doses required, and the pain cannot be eliminated.
Scottish researchers announce a clinical trial this year. What do they offer?
According to Dr Lucy Withaker, a doctor and researcher at the University of Edinburgh, excess lactate is linked to endometrial proliferation. Lactate is normally a kind of residue from muscle activity. However, there is already a treatment designed to reduce the quantity in certain rare diseases, dichloroacetate, produced in the form of simple tablets. A first test was conducted on mice, and the volume of abnormal tissue was reduced. Then a trial with 30 patients reduced the pain of the majority of them. A second trial will integrate, from next fall, 100 patients to define the right dose by comparison with a placebo.
There is also a Japanese source of hope?
Yes, about chronic inflammation. Dr. Ayako Nishimoto-Kakiuchi is responsible for a project within the Chugai Pharma laboratory. His teams have created an antibody capable of curbing inflammation. For example in monkeys, the size of the lesions was halved. In women, a first clinical stage is being analyzed, with 26 volunteer patients. Dr Nishimoto-Kakiuchi hopes the next phase will take place in 2024 in the UK. This treatment would be in the form of a monthly injection that can be done yourself. It is indeed a real source of hope for the millions of women concerned.
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