You ask if pharma would harm you? Well, diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic form of the female hormone estrogen prescribed to pregnant women between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage &

premature labor, and related complications of pregnancy; studies in the 1950s showed that it was not effective in preventing these problems but actually was causing cancer in offspring

‘In 1971, researchers linked prenatal (while in the womb, or in utero) DES exposure to a type of cancer of the cervix and vagina called clear cell adenocarcinoma in a small group of women.’

‘Females exposed to DES in utero, commonly called DES daughters, are at increased risk of several specific cancers, including:

• Clear cell adenocarcinoma. DES daughters have about 40 times the risk of developing clear cell adenocarcinoma of the lower genital tract as unexposed women (women who were not exposed to DES prenatally). However, this type of cancer is still rare; approximately 1 in 1,000 DES daughters developed it. The first DES daughters with clear cell adenocarcinoma were very young at the time of their diagnoses. Subsequent research has shown that the risk of developing this disease remained elevated as these individuals aged into their 40s and 50s, but it continued to be rare.

• Breast cancer. DES daughters may have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer after age 40. A 2006 study from the United States suggested that breast cancer risk is not increased in DES daughters overall but that after age 40, DES daughters have approximately twice the risk of breast cancer as unexposed women of the same age and with similar risk factors. A 2011 study also found that a large cohort of DES daughters had nearly twice the risk of developing breast cancer at 40 years or older as unexposed women, but a 2019 follow-up study showed that their breast cancer risk has lessened over time. It is therefore possible that risk was increased for a limited time at middle age. However, a 2010 study from Europe found no difference in breast cancer risk between DES daughters and women not exposed to DES in utero.

• Pancreatic cancer. A 2021 study found that DES daughters had about two times the risk of pancreatic cancer as women in the general population. Research is ongoing to determine if the increased risk persists as these individuals get older.

• Cervical precancers. Studies show that DES daughters were about 2 times more likely to have high-grade cell changes in the cervix than females not exposed to DES in utero. Approximately 4% of DES daughters developed these conditions because of their exposure. 

Males exposed to DES in utero, referred to as DES sons, have been studied for their risk of testicular and prostate cancers. There is no evidence to date that DES exposure in utero increases the risk of prostate cancer.  However, the evidence around testicular cancer is mixed.’

References:

Professional and Public Relations Committee of the DESAD (Diethylstilbestrol and Adenosis) Project of the Division of Cancer Control and Rehabilitation. Exposure in utero to diethylstilbestrol and related synthetic hormones. Association with vaginal and cervical cancers and other abnormalities. JAMA 1976; 236(10):1107–1109.

Herbst AL, Ulfelder H, Poskanzer DC. Adenocarcinoma of the vagina. Association of maternal stilbestrol therapy with tumor appearance in young women. The New England Journal of Medicine 1971; 284(15):878–881.

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