This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Surgical Interventions  • Urology  • Women's Health, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2004;292:426.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Scientists have gained a better understanding of fibroid tumors, the often painful uterine growths that affect many women. A new study indicates that these growths lack a crucial structural protein that keeps cells in place within a tissue (Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2004;40:204-217).

About 1 of every 2 to 4 women will have symptoms such as pain during menstruation and sexual intercourse at some point during their reproductive years. Fibroids also have been linked to infertility and premature labor and are the single greatest reason for hysterectomy in the United States.

Scientists have found that uterine fibroid tumors have low levels of the structural protein dermatopontin, which may account for the abnormal characteristics of these growths. (Photo credit: http://www.sciencesource.com)

Researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, both in Bethesda, Md, discovered that . . . [Full Text of this Article]