Low Cancer Risk With Device Used to Remove Fibroids, Study Finds
Researchers call the findings 'reassuring,' but FDA warnings remain for older women
THURSDAY, Feb. 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A small power tool that is sometimes used to remove fibroids in the uterus can end up spreading bits of hidden cancerous tumors throughout the abdomen, but a new study suggests the likelihood is low.
Researchers called the findings, reported online Feb. 19 in JAMA Oncology, "reassuring." But the device, called a power morcellator, remains under restricted use.
Until recently, doctors commonly used power morcellators during minimally invasive surgery to remove uterine fibroids -- non-cancerous growths in the wall of the uterus.
Fibroids are very common, but some women eventually need surgery to put an end to symptoms like pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Doctors can either remove the fibroids or perform a hysterectomy to remove the uterus.
The power morcellator has a rotating blade that breaks apart fibroid growths or, during a hysterectomy, the uterus itself. The tissue can then be removed through tiny incisions.
But last November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a strong "boxed" warning on the devices -- saying that if a woman has an undetected cancerous uterine tumor, the morcellator could spread and worsen the cancer.
The agency said that for most women with fibroids, the device should not be used -- including women who are going through or have gone through menopause, since older age increases the risk of uterine cancer.
But the FDA said some younger women might still be candidates for having fibroids removed with the device.
The new study was done to get a handle on how many women having fibroids removed -- but not the uterus -- might have hidden cancer, explained lead researcher Dr. Jason Wright, chief of gynecologic oncology at Columbia University, in New York City.
His team looked at records for almost 42,000 U.S. women who had fibroids surgically removed between 2006 and 2012. A power morcellator was used in just over 3,200 cases.
Of those women who were treated with a morcellator, three were later found to have uterine cancer -- a rate of one in slightly over 1,000 patients. (When fibroids are removed, they are typically sent for testing to confirm whether they are, in fact, benign.)
Low Cancer Risk With Fibroid Removal Device
Researchers call the findings 'reassuring,' but FDA warnings remain for older women
THURSDAY, Feb. 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A small power tool that is sometimes used to remove fibroids in the uterus can end up spreading bits of hidden cancerous tumors throughout the abdomen, but a new study suggests the likelihood is low.
Researchers called the findings, reported online Feb. 19 in JAMA Oncology, "reassuring." But the device, called a power morcellator, remains under restricted use.
Until recently, doctors commonly used power morcellators during minimally invasive surgery to remove uterine fibroids -- non-cancerous growths in the wall of the uterus.
Fibroids are very common, but some women eventually need surgery to put an end to symptoms like pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Doctors can either remove the fibroids or perform a hysterectomy to remove the uterus.
The power morcellator has a rotating blade that breaks apart fibroid growths or, during a hysterectomy, the uterus itself. The tissue can then be removed through tiny incisions.
But last November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a strong "boxed" warning on the devices -- saying that if a woman has an undetected cancerous uterine tumor, the morcellator could spread and worsen the cancer.
The agency said that for most women with fibroids, the device should not be used -- including women who are going through or have gone through menopause, since older age increases the risk of uterine cancer.
But the FDA said some younger women might still be candidates for having fibroids removed with the device.
The new study was done to get a handle on how many women having fibroids removed -- but not the uterus -- might have hidden cancer, explained lead researcher Dr. Jason Wright, chief of gynecologic oncology at Columbia University, in New York City.
His team looked at records for almost 42,000 U.S. women who had fibroids surgically removed between 2006 and 2012. A power morcellator was used in just over 3,200 cases.
Of those women who were treated with a morcellator, three were later found to have uterine cancer -- a rate of one in slightly over 1,000 patients. (When fibroids are removed, they are typically sent for testing to confirm whether they are, in fact, benign.)
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