Endocrinology & Metabolic Syndrome
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-1017
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-1017
+44 1478 350008
Alicia Y. Armstrong
Accepted Abstracts: Endocrinol Metab Synd
Uterine leiomyomas, or fibroids, are the most common benign gynecologic tumors worldwide. Studies have shown that more than 80% of African American women and approximately 70% of white women will have uterine fibroids by age 50. However, because only 20% to 50% of all women with fibroids experience related symptoms, and because screening for fibroids is not routinely performed, the true incidence is difficult to ascertain. In fact, the reported incidence of fibroids in most studies likely is underestimated because they include only symptomatic women with clinical diagnoses confirmed ultrasonographically. In two previously described, double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized controlled trials conducted at the National Institutes of Health we reported that that ulipristal acetate (UPA), effectively controlled bleeding, was well tolerated, improved symptomatology, and reduced fibroid volume in women with uterine leiomyomas. We have published data that suggests leiomyoma behave differently in Black women and we have established a leiomyoma tissue repository. This repository will allow intramural and extramural investigators to examine molecular, clinical and demographic factors related to natural history and treatment of leiomyomas.
Alicia Y. Armstrong received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her M.D. degree from Northwestern University. She completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at NIH. She is Director of Clinical Services, and the Associate Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Director at NIH. She is the Principal Investigator on multiple NIH intramural studies and she has published multiple peer- reviewed publications, book chapters and editorials in the area of uterine leiomyoma. She has given a number of television and newspaper interviews about her leiomyoma research, and she has given presentations on leiomyoma at several national and international meetings.