Ulipristal Acetate: A Review in Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids

Oral ulipristal acetate (Esmya^®; Fibristal^®), a synthetic selective progesterone receptor modulator, is the first selective progesterone modulator to be approved for the treatment of uterine fibroids. It was initially approved for the preoperative treatment of moderate to severe uterine fibroid symptoms in women of reproductive age. Recently, the indication was extended in the EU to include the intermittent treatment of moderate to severe uterine fibroid symptoms. This narrative review summarizes pharmacological, efficacy and tolerability data relevant to the preoperative and intermittent use of ulipristal acetate in patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids. Ulipristal acetate is an effective and generally well tolerated treatment for patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids, both as preoperative, single-course treatment and as intermittent, longer-term treatment. It is noninferior in efficacy to intramuscular leuprolide acetate, as a preoperative treatment, and is associated with a lower rate of hot flashes, a common adverse event with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues. Thus, ulipristal acetate is an effective option for both preoperative and intermittent treatment of moderate to severe, symptomatic uterine fibroids in women of reproductive age.