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Related Experiment Videos

Cyproterone acetate for hirsutism.

Z M Van der Spuy1, P A le Roux

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa. zvdspuy@uctgsh1.uct.ac.za

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|October 30, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Cyproterone acetate with ethinyl estradiol offers subjective improvement for hirsutism. However, clinical differences between cyproterone acetate and other therapies are not yet proven due to study limitations.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Hirsutism is a common endocrine disorder in women that can be challenging to manage.
  • Cyproterone acetate, an anti-androgen, is often prescribed with ethinyl estradiol for hirsutism treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effectiveness of cyproterone acetate, alone or with ethinyl estradiol, in reducing hair growth in women with hirsutism.
  • To compare cyproterone acetate-based treatments against placebo and other medical therapies.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified through extensive database searches (MEDLINE, EMBASE, etc.) up to June 2002.
  • Included studies compared cyproterone acetate (with or without ethinyl estradiol) to placebo or other drug treatments.
  • Eleven studies were identified, with nine RCTs included in the analysis; major outcomes included subjective improvement, Ferriman Gallwey scores, hair growth, endocrine parameters, and side effects.

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Main Results:

  • One small study showed subjective hair growth reduction with cyproterone acetate and ethinyl estradiol versus placebo.
  • No studies directly compared cyproterone acetate alone versus in combination with ethinyl estradiol.
  • No significant clinical outcome differences were found when comparing cyproterone acetate to other therapies (ketoconazole, spironolactone, etc.), though endocrinological differences were noted.

Conclusions:

  • Cyproterone acetate combined with ethinyl estradiol provides subjective improvement for hirsutism compared to placebo.
  • Clinical efficacy differences between cyproterone acetate and other hirsutism treatments were not demonstrated, likely due to small study sizes and assessment limitations.
  • Larger, well-designed studies are necessary to compare the efficacy and safety of various hirsutism drug therapies.