Women who suffer from an ectopic pregnancy could be helped by a cancer drug, researchers have revealed.
The cancer drug might help women avoid surgery and retain their fertility, according to researchers at Edinburgh University, Scotland, and at Melbourne University, Australia.
The problem is normally treated with the drug methotrexate but the researchers say that using the lung cancer drug, gefitinib, can help many women who develop the problem.
About 12,000 women every year develop ectopic pregnancy, when an embryo implants inside the fallopian tube, rather than in the womb.
So far the new treatment has been tested on just 12 women. The researchers say it works by blocking cell growth of the kind found in an ectopic pregnancy.
The success of the trial was reported in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Researcher Dr Andrew Horne, of Edinburgh University, said: "An ectopic pregnancy can be extremely stressful for the woman involved. If we can reduce the need for surgery, and thereby help fertility levels, then that would be an enormous benefit.
"Reducing the treatment time for women who do not need surgery would also have a significant impact in reducing the emotional stress of such a diagnosis."
Obstetrics and Gynecology 10 September 2013
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