Fibroid growth and medical options for treatment

Although fibroids are common benign tumors, their impact on women's quality of life can be considerable. The most frequent symptoms are uterine bleeding, resulting in anemia, and pelvic pain. Fibroids can be of genetic or hormonal origin or arise from intrauterine events. Current options for medical treatment include control of estradiol and progesterone production or action and are discussed in this review. Although curative treatment of fibroids relies on surgical strategies, the current trend is for uterine-sparing treatment to preserve fertility and avoid unnecessary surgery. Currently approved medical treatments include intrauterine progestin delivery to reduce uterine bleeding, GnRH analogues, and, more recently, selective progesterone receptor modulators to control uterine bleeding and reduce fibroid volume. (C) 2014 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.