Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix

Abstract

Despite the fact that DES has not been prescribed to pregnant women in the Netherlands in the last 20 years, CCAC is still relevant in our times. It is important to stay alert and periodically to update and evaluate the data of this registry, including data on women born outside the DES exposure period. The bimodal age distribution in this study of women without intrauterine exposure to DES suggests a carcinogenesis-promoting role of menarche and menopause and/ or the existence of a subpopulation with genetic risk factors or exogenous risk factors other than exposure to DES. Postmenopausal observation of women exposed to DES must be encouraged for clinical reasons and may help facilitate differentiation between these two hypotheses. If these risk factors of CCAC were better documented and their interrelationships better defined, CCAC could become an important model of multistep carcinogenesis in tissues sensitive to sex hormones.