UK Turner Study update, 1 July 2011

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The UK Turner Study is a long-term clinical trial organised by the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes (BSPED). The study involves a group of girls with Turner syndrome (TS) receiving a standard dose of growth hormone therapy and aims to answer 2 questions:
1) What is the effect on final height of the anabolic steroid, oxandrolone?
2) What is the effect on final height of delaying pubertal induction from 12 to 14 years of age?
The study began back in 1999 and 106 girls were recruited at 36 UK hospitals. The number of girls ‘dropping out’ of the study is only 14, leaving 92 girls to be followed-up until final height is reached and the study is completed.

Summary of UK Turner Study findings
• Oxandrolone increases final height compared to placebo
• Induction of puberty at 14 rather than 12 years of age increases final height
• Taking oxandrolone AND delaying pubertal induction to 14 years is no better than EITHER taking oxandrolone OR delaying pubertal induction to 14 years of age
• Oxandrolone, in the dose used in this study, is not associated with side-effects

As the 12th anniversary of the start of the study approaches, most of the participants are now at final height and have completed the study. A small number of girls are still growing and they will continue to be followed-up until they too reach final height. In the meantime, the growth data collected to date have been analysed and the results published in the British Medical Journal in April.1 Once all the girls have completed the study, the analysis will be updated. However, the overall results are not expected to change. We’ll be contacting participants via the recruiting paediatricians shortly with information of what happens next. In the meantime, the key findings of the study are detailed in the box. For more detailed information, go to the research section of www.bmj.com to access the full paper.

If you, or your daughter, have been involved in the study we thank you very much for your participation. Without it, this important study could not have happened.

Emma Jane Gault
BSPED Clinical Trial Co-ordinator
On behalf of the study organisers

1Gault EJ, Perry RJ, Cole TJ, Casey S, Paterson WF, Hindmarsh PC, Betts P, Dunger DB and Donaldson MDC, on behalf of the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes. Effect of oxandrolone and timing of pubertal induction on final height in Turner’s syndrome: randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial. BMJ 2011;342:d1980