Definition of "diethylstilbestrol" []

• A synthetic nonsteroidal substance, C18H20O2, having estrogenic properties and used in the treatment of prostatic cancer. It was once used to treat menstrual disorders and to prevent miscarriage but is no longer prescribed for these cases because of the occurrence of reproductive abnormalities and cancers in the offspring of women so treated. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In 1971, yet another such study identified an even more unusual carcinogen, a synthetic hormonal medicine called diethylstilbestrol DES."
• "Researchers suspect that BPA could play a role in cancer because of its structural similarities to a cancer-promoting compound called diethylstilbestrol (DES)."
• "For example, withdrawing nitrofurans from livestock use took 20 years, DES diethylstilbestrol took seven years and enrofloxacin took five years and cost $3.3 million, says the agency."