The history of Distilbene® (Diethylstilbestrol) told to grandchildren - the transgenerational effect

The Distilbene (R) story is a dramatic episode which belongs to the history of medicine. It provided several useful lessons such as the importance of evidence-based medicine and the hazard to develop treatments during pregnancy without careful animal verifications. However, this experience has also provided unexpected progress by suggesting new pathophysiological concepts: fetal programming of adult diseases and/or transgenerational transmission of environmental effects through epigenetic modifications. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.