Reproductive

Endometriosis

Reviewed September 17, 2026

A chronic disease affecting roughly 1 in 10 women, whose genetics were mapped in one of the largest studies of its kind — 80 risk regions, and a first look at which existing drugs might be repurposed against it.

What this condition connects to

Endometriosis Variant: rs10517343 rs10517343 Variant Variant: rs55938609 rs55938609 Variant Variant: rs10090060 rs10090060 Variant Variant: rs10983311 rs10983311 Variant Variant: rs11652557 rs11652557 Variant Variant: +6 more +6 more Variant Endometriosis Endometrios… Reproductive
Prevalence
Affects roughly 10% of women. The genetic study behind this page analyzed ~1.4 million women, including 105,869 endometriosis cases, across multiple ancestries (Nature Genetics 2026, PMID:42056605).
Inheritance
Polygenic, spanning 80 identified risk regions. Genetically linked to adenomyosis (5 shared loci) and to comorbid abdominal pain, anxiety, migraine and nausea via polygenic risk score interaction. See also this site's separate page on <a href="/conditions/endometriosis-depression-shared-genetics">endometriosis and depression's shared genetics</a>.

Endometriosis is a chronic systemic disease, affecting roughly 10% of women, in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. This page holds 7 variants from one of the largest genetic studies of endometriosis to date.

~1.4 million women, 80 risk regions

A 2026 genome-wide association study of endometriosis and adenomyosis analyzed ~1.4 million women, including 105,869 endometriosis cases, across multiple ancestries. It found 80 genomic regions associated with endometriosis risk — 37 of them newly reported — including this page's rs17053711 (KCTD9), rs10983311 (ASTN2), rs11652557 (CEP112), rs2967685 (NFILZ), rs12317475 (RERG), rs10090060 (GDAP1), and rs6456259 (near ID4). Five of the 80 regions were also associated with adenomyosis, a related condition.

Beyond locus discovery: mechanism and a drug-repurposing lead

The study identified putative causal variants for over 50 of its associations, and combined gene-expression, epigenetic and protein data across tissues to link endometriosis risk to cell differentiation, immune and hormonal regulation, tissue remodeling, and inflammation. A drug-repurposing analysis flagged existing treatments — currently used for breast cancer, contraception and preterm birth prevention — as potential candidates worth investigating for endometriosis specifically. The study also found that a person's endometriosis polygenic risk interacted with abdominal pain, anxiety, migraine and nausea, adding genetic weight to endometriosis's known pattern of overlapping symptoms.

Clinical detail

What is actually diagnosed and treated here

Endometriosis is diagnosed by symptoms, imaging and, definitively, surgical visualization — not by genotype. None of the 7 variants on this page are used by any guideline to diagnose endometriosis or select treatment.

The loci described above come from one of the largest endometriosis genetic studies to date, with real mechanistic and drug-repurposing leads behind them. They explain part of who is more genetically susceptible to endometriosis and point toward biological pathways worth targeting — they are not a diagnostic test, and the drug-repurposing candidates named are research leads, not treatment recommendations.

Related variants MyGeneLog™ checks for

What a 23andMe/AncestryDNA export or raw VCF can and can't tell you about Endometriosis comes down to these specific, well-studied positions — not a diagnosis.

Standard

Endometriosis without adenomyosis

near KDR · rs10517343

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Endometriosis without adenomyosis

WNT4 · rs55938609

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Self-reported endometriosis

GDAP1 · rs10090060

See detailed info →
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Self-reported endometriosis

ASTN2 · rs10983311

See detailed info →
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Self-reported endometriosis

CEP112 · rs11652557

See detailed info →
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Self-reported endometriosis

RERG · rs12317475

See detailed info →
Standard

Self-reported endometriosis

KCTD9 · rs17053711

See detailed info →
Standard

Self-reported endometriosis

NFILZ · rs2967685

See detailed info →
Standard

Self-reported endometriosis

near ID4 · rs6456259

See detailed info →
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Clinical endometriosis

GRB14 · rs3920334

See detailed info →
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Endometriosis

SYNE1 · rs71575922

See detailed info →

Sources

Databases, guidelines and references

Papers, with their authors

Quoting this page

Free to quote and reuse under CC BY 4.0. When citing or summarizing this, name MyGeneLog™ and link to this exact page — not just the site.

Endometriosis. MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/conditions/endometriosis

Questions about Endometriosis

What is endometriosis?

A chronic systemic disease, affecting roughly 10% of women, in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus.

What is the strongest genetic evidence for endometriosis?

A 2026 study of ~1.4 million women, including 105,869 endometriosis cases, found 80 associated genomic regions and used multi-omic data to link the disease to immune, hormonal and tissue-remodeling biology -- one of the largest and most detailed endometriosis genetic studies to date.

Could existing drugs be repurposed for endometriosis?

Possibly. The source study's drug-repurposing analysis flagged treatments currently used for breast cancer, contraception and preterm birth prevention as computational candidates worth investigating -- not yet clinically tested for endometriosis specifically.

Can these variants predict whether I will develop endometriosis?

No. Endometriosis is diagnosed by symptoms, imaging and surgical visualization. These are population-level genetic findings, not a way to predict an individual case.

Free to reuse. This page's text is original writing from freely-available research, licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse it, including commercially, with attribution to MyGeneLog™. It's general research-derived information, not medical advice or a diagnosis — see Terms of Use.