Researchers in Yorkhill Hospital and Glasgow Royal Infirmary are investigating whether a form of the contraceptive coil can stop women from developing womb cancer. If the trial is successful, researchers hope more women will prevent the development of the cancer and so avoid hysterectomies.
Scientists will test their theory in a four-year trial on 220 women, using a coil called Mirena IUS. It also contains the hormone progestagen and may diminish further the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy.
The Cancer Research UK-funded clinical trial-named POET or Prevention Of Endometrial Tumours-aims to test the theory in women with Lynch syndrome, who have a 60 percent chance of developing the disease. Lynch syndrome is an inherited disorder which raises the chance of a number of cancers, most notably bowel cancer and womb cancer.
Only women with the condition will be involved in the trial. Endometrial cancer develops from the wall of the uterus and by limiting its growth, progestagen stops the emergence of the disease. The trials will be carried out at hospitals across Britain.
Womb, or endometrial, cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women in the UK, with 6,400 new cases diagnosed each year.
