Menopausal hormone therapy and irregular endometrial bleeding: A potential role for uterine natural killer cells?

Abstract

Context: Irregular bleeding affects many users of combined menopausal hormone therapy (HT) and commonly leads to invasive and expensive investigations to exclude underlying malignancy. In most cases no abnormality is found. Objective: The main objective of this study was to explore the role of uterine natural killer (uNK) cells and their regulatory cytokine IL-15 in irregular bleeding in HT users. Design: This was a prospective observational study conducted between 2002 and 2004. Setting: The study was conducted in a tertiary referral menopause clinic at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Western Australia. Patients: Patients included 117 postmenopausal women taking combined HT. Interventions: O..