Drug offers millions hope for endometriosis treatment

Nearly 28 million women suffer from painful uterine fibroids, and a related condition called endometriosis. But a drug is offering new hope for those who’ve endured this excruciating pain.

Caitlin Winegrove is an elementary school teacher who hopes to have kids of her own one day.

“In teaching first grade, it’s very important that you move quickly and show up with your energy every day,” Winegrove said.

But each menstrual period, Winegrove would be laid low by the pain of fibroid tumors and endometriosis.

“I have had painful periods and intense cramping.”

Fibroids are non-cancerous stalk-like growths inside the uterus. Endometriosis causes tissue to grow outside the uterus.

“With fibroid pain, people feel very heavy, and, like, a pressure associated with it,” said Dr. Latasha Murphy, a gynecological surgeon at Mercy Medical System in Baltimore, Maryland. “With endometriosis pain, typically that’s described as a burning or sharp stabbing type of sensation.”

Murphy performed Wingrove’s minimally invasive laparoscopy, revealing 10 fibroids and more.

“For her endometriosis, we were able to remove endometriosis from about four different locations in her pelvis,” Murphy said.

After the procedure, Murphy prescribed a new FDA-approved drug called myfembree.

“It decreases the brain’s message to the ovaries to create estrogen,” Murphy said. “Estrogen stimulates endometriosis and fibroids to grow.”

For Caitlin Winegrove, it’s been a lifesaver.

“I haven’t been experiencing, really, any cramping,” Winegrove said. “I’ve had very light periods since starting it.”

Myfembree was approved by the FDA in mid-2022. In addition to treating fibroids and endometriosis, the drug also serves as an alternative to birth control pills.