Carcinogenic and possible mutagenic effects of stilboestrol in offspring exposed in utero.

The relevant literature has been reviewed and it appears that there is no doubt that in utero exposure to stilboestrol is related to the eventual development of vaginal adenocarcinoma in young females. Although cancer of other types are also prevalent, the incidence is not great and may be related to other types of drugs taken during pregnancy. The review attempts to correlate the genetic effects with the abnormal development, but on account of the scarcity of data such correlation is not possible. Further work on the genetic effects and the development of the lower genital tract in the female needs to be carried out.