🌿 What’s New in Endometriosis Research? Your Top Questions Answered
🌿 What’s New in Endometriosis Research? Your Top Questions Answered
Endometriosis can be complex, confusing, and deeply frustrating — especially when the information available feels inconsistent or incomplete. Recently, we gathered your questions for a researcher specialising in endometriosis biology, pain pathways, and emerging therapies. Here’s what they had to say, distilled into an easy-to-read summary.
🔄 Does Endometriosis Really Come Back After Excision Surgery — Even With Hormonal Management?
Hormonal treatments like the Mirena IUD or continuous oral contraceptives work by suppressing estrogen, which slows the growth of endometriosis. But hormones cannot eliminate the disease entirely.
Even skilled excision surgery is not 100% effective. Tiny portions of lesions can remain, and over time these can continue to develop — even while on hormonal suppression.
📉 How Successful Is Surgery Followed by Hormonal Treatment?
Research shows recurrence rates ranging widely from 6% to about 50% within five years after surgery.
However, there's good news:
👉 People who use hormone therapy after surgery have about 2.5 times lower risk of recurrence compared to those who don’t.
While not perfect, the combination of excision and hormonal suppression is currently one of the most effective approaches for reducing recurrence risk.
🔬 How Does Journavx (Suzetrigine) Work for Endometriosis Pain?
Suzetrigine, branded as Journavx, is a new pain medication that targets specific pain pathways — without the addictive potential seen in opioid medications.
Here’s how it works:
It selectively blocks Nav1.8 channels, which sit on peripheral pain-sensing neurons.
These channels help transmit pain signals from the body to the spinal cord.
By inhibiting them, suzetrigine stops pain signals before they reach the central nervous system.
It doesn’t treat endometriosis lesions, but it may offer meaningful relief for endometriosis-related pain.
🧬 Why Is Hysterectomy Sometimes Used if Endometriosis Is a Whole-Body Disease?
Although endometriosis itself is not confined to the uterus, a hysterectomy may reduce symptoms because:
Removing the uterus and ovaries significantly reduces estrogen and progesterone production.
Endometriosis lesions are estrogen-dependent, so reducing hormones reduces symptoms and may slow further lesion growth.
How is this different from a GnRH agonist (medical menopause)?
GnRH agonists temporarily suppress hormones.
Once you stop them, hormones (and symptoms) often return.
A hysterectomy, in contrast, is permanent.
Importantly: A hysterectomy does not cure endometriosis, but may help some people depending on their symptom sources.
🐁 How Do Researchers Create Endometriosis in Mouse Models?
Studying endometriosis requires accurate models. Here’s how researchers do it:
They take small fragments of the uterine lining (from the same or a donor mouse).
These fragments are placed inside the abdominal cavity of another mouse.
The recipient mouse receives weekly estrogen injections.
The fragments attach to various surfaces and form lesions — just as they do in humans.
This model helps researchers test therapies, understand pain pathways, and analyse how lesions grow.
🧬 Is There a Link Between the MTHFR C677T Gene Variant and Endometriosis?
Recent studies (2023 & 2025) suggest a connection between the MTHFR C677T variant and increased risk of endometriosis.
This gene affects folate metabolism, and impaired function can lead to:
Increased inflammation
Greater oxidative stress
Both are known contributors to endometriosis development.
While promising, the researcher notes that their current models do not yet explore this gene variant — but that doesn’t mean the association isn’t relevant.
🎗️ If Endometriosis Lesions Grow Like Some Cancers, Why Isn’t Endo a Cancer?
Endometriosis and cancer share some biological processes — like angiogenesis (creating new blood vessels), inflammation and resistance to cell death and nerve growth.
But key differences explain why endo is not considered a cancer:
Cancer cells grow uncontrollably and invade distant tissues (metastasis).
Endometriosis lesions do not metastasise.
Endo is painful and life-altering, but not life-threatening in the way malignant cancers are
💰 Is Endometriosis Research Finally Getting More Support?
Yes — but it’s still challenging.
Researchers report:
More dedicated grants and initiatives
Increased public interest
Growing recognition of endometriosis as a major health priority
However, competition remains intense, and funding for basic science — the foundation of all future treatments — is still extremely limited.
🧪 When Will the New Therapeutic Antibody Be Helpful?
This emerging treatment has shown effectiveness on existing lesions, and early data suggests it may also slow new lesion formation.
However:
It is not designed as a preventative treatment.
It is intended for people already diagnosed with endometriosis.
There’s still a journey ahead before this therapy becomes widely available.
🌟 What’s Most Exciting in Endometriosis Research Right Now?
According to the researcher:
The possibility of a non-hormonal treatment for endometriosis.
Hormonal options remain essential, but they come with side effects and limitations. A non-hormonal therapy could be transformative — especially for those who can’t or don’t want to use hormonal suppression.
😣 What’s Most Frustrating for Endometriosis Researchers?
Their biggest barrier: funding for fundamental research.
Basic research uncovers the mechanisms that allow new treatments to be developed — but it’s often the hardest type of work to get funded. Despite this, researchers remain committed and motivated by the impact their work can have.
Final Thoughts
Endometriosis research is moving forward faster than ever — from understanding pain pathways to exploring new non-hormonal treatments. While challenges remain, the momentum is growing, and so is the hope for more effective and personalised care.
