Contraception: progress brings hope for new metho...( For decades pundits have predicted n...)

For decades, pundits have predicted new contraceptives for men within the next 5 to 10 years. Are we really getting any closer? Judging from work presented today at the second "Future of Male Contraception" conference, the answer may finally be yes.

But will men actually use a new method if researchers make one? Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception Information Project, says demand is the least of the problems. "You'll never have all men interested, but attitudes have really changed-- studies consistenly show a majority of men would consider it. You have to remember, between condoms and vasectomy, men in the U.S. are already taking care of a third of contraception. Just imagine if they had another non-permanent option."

Kirsten Thompson, director of the International Male Contraception Coalition, concurs. "Some men are quite desperate for better control over their fertility. They're looking for something they can really count on."

Among the developments announced at the conference:

• Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and BIOQUAL Inc. showed they could provide contraception in monkeys with no hormones and no shots needed. (Monkeys are used for studies because of their similarity to humans.) The monkeys had no moving sperm after they took a compound called CDB-4022, and their fertility bounced back completely by 16 weeks. The researchers hope this will be a new nonhormonal contraceptive that can be taken as a pill; in survey results presented at the conference by the International Male Contraception Coalition, 61% of men listed a nonhormonal drug as their first choice. Safety studies will be the next step.

• A testosterone-like pill ("selective androgen receptor modulator") already in human testing as an osteoporosis and muscle-wasting treatment may have a side benefit: it could work as a hormonal contraceptive that could be taken as a pill. Until now, mo
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