A major impact on personal and social life
Endometriosis is the cause of a significant deterioration in quality of life.. The pain is responsible for sleep disorders which induce chronic fatigue and psychological disorders (irritability, depression…), causing deterioration in family and social relationships. This in turn leads to a deterioration in family and social relationships. Sexuality is altered, often with major repercussions on the couple. Infertility and uncertainties related to the MAP process also have an important impact (1).
Average annual cost of endometriosis is € 9579 per woman, with an average of 33 days of sick leave per year. The overall societal cost of the disease is estimated at 10.6 billion euros in France (5,6).
The need of a non-invasive diagnostic test
The laparoscopy is now considered as the reference examination for the diagnosis of endometriosis (8). It is nevertheless an invasive procedure that must be performed under general anesthesia and may, like any surgical procedure, be accompanied by intra- or post-operative complications.
The development of a non-invasive diagnostic test for endometriosis has therefore been a major medical need for many years. More than a hundred potential biomarkers (angiogenesis factors, growth factors, hormonal, immune and inflammatory markers, etc.) have been evaluated over the past decades (8).
Among these biomarkers, a new class of molecules discovered in 2000, microRNAs, has emerged as a promising option, supported by a growing number of evidence from studies on cancer and degenerative disorders (9,10).
References
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https://www.endomind.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Reflexions_sur_lendiometriose_en_france.pdf ;
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https://www.who.int/fr/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/endometriosis ;
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https://www.endofrance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Hypersensibilisation_Endofrance-SPloteau.pdf ;
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Haute Autorité de Santé. Prise en charge de l’endométriose. Fiche de synthèse. Décembre 2017. https://www.has-sante.fr/upload/docs/application/pdf/2018-01/prise_en_charge_de_lendiometriose_-_demarche_diagnostique_et_traitement_medical_-_fiche_de_synthese.pdf ;
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Kanj O. Evaluation économique de la prise en charge de l’endométriose. https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02080162v2/document ;
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Fourquet J et al. Fertil Steril 2010; 93(7): 2424–2428. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2860000/pdf/nihms147074.pdf ;
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Kiesel L et al. Climacteric 2019;22(3):296-302.
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Nisenblat V et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016;2016 (5):CD012179. ;
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Baulande S et al Medsci 2014; 30 : 289-296 ;
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Agrawal S et al.Int J Mol Sci 2018;19(2):599
EXCLUSIONS
The test is only available for women 18-43 years old who are not pregnant or HIV positive.