Letrozole is a medicine that has been studied as part of a medical abortion method, especially in places where mifepristone is not available. Like mifepristone, letrozole can be used with misoprostol to end a pregnancy in its early stages. Letrozole is a type of drug called an aromatase inhibitor. It works by lowering estrogen levels, which affects how the hormone progesterone works, and this helps stop the pregnancy from growing.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a combination of letrozole (10 mg taken once a day for 3 days) followed by misoprostol (800 micrograms placed under the tongue on the 4th day) is a safe and effective option for medical abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Studies show that this method can work well, especially when compared to using misoprostol alone. However, the WHO says that more research is needed to understand how safe and effective it is later in pregnancy, and how it compares to the more commonly used combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.
