This study aimed to characterize pregnancy outcomes and the incidence of induced abortion among pregnant people with a diagnosis of malignancy.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study among ...privately insured people aged 12 to 55 years from the fourth quarter of 2015−2020 using US claims data from Merative MarketScan Research Databases. We included pregnancies from seven states with favorable policies for private insurance coverage of abortion.
There were 1471 of 183,685 (0.8%) pregnancies with a cancer diagnosis. Among those receiving anticancer therapy, 21.6% (95% CI: 14.4–30.4%) underwent induced abortion compared with 10.9% (95% CI: 10.8–11.1%) of pregnant patients without a cancer diagnosis.
Abortion restrictions may affect many pregnant women requiring cancer treatment in early pregnancy.
Although it is uncommon in general, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer during pregnancy. While treatment for pregnant patients should adhere to treatment guidelines for non-pregnant ...patients, there exist specific considerations concerning diagnosis, staging, oncological treatment, and obstetrical care. Imaging and staging are preferably performed using breast ultrasound and mammography. Other ionizing radiation imaging modalities, including computed tomography (CT) and Positron Emission Tomography/ Computed Tomography (PET/CT), can be selectively performed when the estimated benefit for the mother outweighs the risks to the foetus, e.g., when the results will change clinical management. MRI is appropriate to stage for distant disease on the indication. Breast cancer during pregnancy is less often hormone receptor-positive and more frequently triple-negative breast cancer compared to age-matched controls. The basic principle is that women should receive state-of-the-art oncological treatment without delay if possible and that the pregnancy should be maintained as long as possible. Treatment strategy should be multidisciplinary defined, carefully weighing the selection, sequence, and timing of treatment modalities depending on patient-, tumour-, and pregnancy-related characteristics, as well as patient preferences. Initiating cancer treatment during pregnancy often decreases the risks of early delivery and prematurity. Breast cancer surgery is possible during all trimesters. Radiotherapy is possible during pregnancy in the first half of pregnancy. Chemotherapy can be safely administered starting from 12 weeks of gestational age, but endocrine and HER2 targeted therapy are contraindicated throughout the whole pregnancy. Importantly, foetal growth should be monitored and long-term follow-up of the children is encouraged in dedicated centres.
•Pregnant women with breast cancer should receive optimal oncological treatment.•Treatment should follow protocols outside pregnancy as much as possible.•Modality and timing of treatment should be determined multidisciplinary.•Locoregional staging is done by US and mammography, similar to outside pregnancy.•Women with breast cancer during pregnancy should be referred for genetic counselling.
Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) tests for fetal chromosomal anomalies through maternal blood sampling. It is becoming widely available and standard of care for pregnant women in many countries. ...It is performed in the first trimester of pregnancy, usually between 9 and 12 weeks. Fragments of fetal cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) floating in maternal plasma are detected and analyzed by this test to assess for chromosomal aberrations. Similarly, maternal tumor-derived cell-free DNA (ctDNA) released from the tumor cells also circulates in the plasma. Hence, the presence of genomic anomalies originating from maternal tumor-derived DNA may be detected on the NIPS-based fetal risk assessment in pregnant patients. Presence of multiple aneuploidies or autosomal monosomies are the most commonly reported NIPS abnormalities detected with occult maternal malignancies. When such results are received, the search for an occult maternal malignancy begins, in which imaging plays a crucial role. The most commonly detected malignancies via NIPS are leukemia, lymphoma, breast and colon cancers. Ultrasound is a reasonable radiation-free modality for imaging during pregnancy, specially when there are localizing symptoms or findings, such as palpable lumps. While there are no consensus guidelines on the imaging evaluation for these patients, when there are no localizing symptoms or clinically palpable findings, whole body MRI is recommended as the radiation-free modality of choice to search for an occult malignancy. Based on clinical symptoms, practice patterns, and available resources, breast ultrasound, chest radiographs, and targeted ultrasound evaluations can also be performed initially or as a follow-up for MRI findings. CT is reserved for exceptional circumstances due to its higher radiation dose. This article intends to increase awareness of this rare but stressful clinical scenario and guide imaging evaluation for occult malignancy detected via NIPS during pregnancy.
Graphical abstract
The global incidence of cancer is increasing, including its incidence in women of reproductive age. Still, physicians encounter this situation rarely, which could lead to substandard care. This ...research sought to explore opportunities to improve future care for pregnant women with cancer, by describing the outcomes of a survey distributed to physicians all over the world focusing on clinical experience with pregnant women with cancer, the organization of care and current gaps in knowledge. We included 249 responses from physicians working across 36 countries. Responses demonstrate a wide variation in the organization of care – generally lacking centralization, and the physicians' acknowledgement of insufficient knowledge on the management of pregnant women with cancer. There is a need for improvement through national centralization and/or establishing advisory boards for cancer in pregnancy. Seeing the paucity of cancer in pregnancy experience, the importance of global multidisciplinary collaboration is emphasized.
This research describes the outcomes of a survey distributed to physicians all over the world focusing on clinical experience with pregnant women with cancer, the organization of care and current gaps in knowledge. We included 249 responses from physicians working across 36 countries. Responses demonstrate a wide variation in the organization of care – generally lacking centralization, and the physicians’ acknowledgement of insufficient knowledge on the management of pregnant women with cancer.
Purpose: Meningioma is a benign tumor, more frequent in female population. During pregnancy, distinguishing a meningioma from other common conditions presenting with similar symptoms (headache, ...vomiting, visual impairment) is challenging. Moreover, the management must consider not only maternal but also fetal health. The rarity of the condition does not allow to define the features to which look in order to stratify the risk for the need of surgery during pregnancy. We reported three cases of meningioma in pregnant women treated at our department and reviewed those previously reported in the literature. The aim of this review is to evaluate which factors are more determinant in such management.
Methods: Electronic databases were searched from year 2000 until June 2020, to identify clinical studies on management of meningioma diagnosed during pregnancy. The primary outcome was surgical timing. Secondary outcomes were delivery methods, maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Results: Surgery after pregnancy is more frequently performed in PR + tumor (p-value 0.038) and with HA (p-value 0.0445), as well as in meningioma diagnosed during the third trimester, compared to those diagnosed before (p-value 0.0012). Surgery during pregnancy was more frequent in patients with visual loss (p-value 0.006). No significant differences were found in surgical management, according to age, WHO grade, tumor location, lesion diameter and ER positivity. Delivery method is independent from both hormonal receptor status and main symptoms, but women who had neurosurgery during pregnancy delivered more frequently with spontaneous vaginal delivery (p-value <0.01).
Conclusion: The decision regarding surgical timing of meningioma diagnosed during pregnancy depends on PR + and impending symptoms as visual loss or headache. It seems that timing of neurosurgery does not affect the delivery method. A multidisciplinary approach is always useful to perform a rapid and appropriate diagnosis and to better evaluate pros and cons of surgery during pregnancy and following management both for maternal and fetal wellness.
The introduction of noninvasive prenatal testing has resulted in substantial reductions to previously accepted false-positive rates of prenatal screening. Despite this, the possibility of ...false-positive results remains a challenging consideration in clinical practice, particularly considering the increasing uptake of genome-wide noninvasive prenatal testing, and the subsequent increased proportion of high-risk results attributable to various biological events besides fetal aneuploidy. Confined placental mosaicism, whereby chromosome anomalies exclusively affect the placenta, is perhaps the most widely accepted cause of false-positive noninvasive prenatal testing. There remains, however, a substantial degree of ambiguity in the literature pertaining to the clinical ramifications of confined placental mosaicism and its potential association with placental insufficiency, and consequentially adverse pregnancy outcomes including fetal growth restriction. Other causes of false-positive noninvasive prenatal testing include vanishing twin syndrome, in which the cell-free DNA from a demised aneuploidy-affected twin triggers a high-risk result, technical failures, and maternal origins of abnormal cell-free DNA such as uterine fibroids or unrecognized mosaicisms. Most concerningly, maternal malignancies are also a documented cause of false-positive screening results. In this review, we compile what is currently known about the various causes of false-positive noninvasive prenatal testing.
Display omitted
Cancer during pregnancy threatens the lives of mother and foetus and its incidence is rising, making it an emerging medical challenge. Evidence on the direct impact of cancer therapies on neonatal ...outcomes resulted in general guidelines for maternal treatment that safeguards foetal development. Less focus has been placed on indirect factors, in pre- and postnatal periods, that may exert long-term impacts specifically on child neurocognition. Foetal development, in the context of maternal cancer during pregnancy, may be influenced directly by exposure to cancer diagnostics and (co-)treatment, or indirectly through maternal inflammation, malnutrition, hormonal fluctuations, prematurity, and psycho-biological stress. Maternal stress and insecure mother-infant bonding related to postpartum cancer treatment may further impact child cognitive-behavioural development. Understanding the independent and synergistic effects of the factors impacting neurocognitive development creates the opportunity to intervene during the oncological treatment to improve the child’s long-term outcome, both by medical and psychosocial care and support.
•Cancer in pregnancy: Direct and indirect factors determine child neurodevelopment.•Pre + postnatal periods are sensitive to epigenetic changes by external influences.•Critical postnatal period of neurodevelopment has received insufficient attention.•Oncological decision-making must consider impact of all factors on child outcomes.
Objective
To investigate if cancer in pregnancy causes a higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) during pregnancy and postpartum compared with pregnant women without cancer.
Design
A historical ...prospective cohort study using data from nationwide registries.
Setting and population
We assessed all pregnancies in Denmark between 1 January 1977 and 31 December 2017.
Methods
We linked information concerning cancer diagnosis, pregnancy and VTE diagnosis and potential confounders. Event rates of VTE for women with pre‐pregnancy cancer, cancer in pregnancy and without cancer were calculated per 10 000 pregnancies and compared using logistic regression analysis.
Main outcome measures
Occurrence of VTE during pregnancy or the postpartum period.
Results
A total of 3 581 214 pregnancies were included in the study and we found 1330 women with cancer in pregnancy. In pregnant women with cancer, the event rate of VTE was 75.2 per 10 000 pregnancies compared with 10.7 per 10 000 pregnancies in the no cancer group. The findings correspond to an increased adjusted odds ratio of 6.50 (95% CI3.5–12.1) in the cancer in pregnancy group in comparison with the no cancer group.
Conclusions
Women with cancer in pregnancy have a markedly higher risk of pregnancy‐associated VTE compared with women without cancer. In pregnancy‐related VTE risk assessment, the presence of cancer alone may be sufficient to indicate thromboprophylaxis.
Tweetable
Cancer in pregnancy increases the risk of VTE during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Tweetable
Cancer in pregnancy increases the risk of VTE during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Cervical cancer in pregnancy is rare and its management remains a formidable challenge. Clinical upstaging is a serious concern. Presentation may mimic pregnancy-related conditions, thus delaying ...diagnosis and leading to an advanced stage at presentation. In addition, concerns regarding chemotherapy safety in pregnancy may hinder its administration. Definitive therapy may also be delayed due to pregnancy.
A 37-year-old G3P2A0 10-11 weeks pregnant woman was diagnosed with stage IB2 cervical cancer. We originally planned to perform neoadjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel 175mg/m
and carboplatin 6 AUC every 21 days followed by caesarean section and radical hysterectomy. However, preoperatively, the tumor had grown further and progressed to stage IIB. Postpartum radiotherapy was thus indicated. Lower segmental caesarean section along with bilateral salpingectomy and ovarian transposition were performed. Radiotherapy was administered through external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. The patient delivered a small for gestational age male baby with no abnormalities. At 2-month follow-up, the infant appeared generally healthy.
Cancer diagnosis during pregnancy adversely impacts women's physical and psychological states. Symptoms may mimic pregnancy-related conditions, thus delaying diagnosis. Its management involves a multidisciplinary team to protect both maternal and fetal health.
Cancer in pregnancy Botha, Matthys H.; Rajaram, Shalini; Karunaratne, Kanishka
International journal of gynecology and obstetrics,
October 2018, 2018-Oct, 2018-10-00, 20181001, Volume:
143, Issue:
S2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The incidence of cancer in pregnancy is increasing. The most frequent malignancies include breast and cervical cancers. Diagnosis may be complicated by late presentation. Imaging during pregnancy ...should consider risks to the fetus. Diagnostic work‐up, including tumor markers, can be influenced by the physiology of pregnancy. Treatment of cancer can often be safely administered with good maternal and fetal outcomes. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery must be adapted to the pregnancy state. Counselling and emotional support are an essential part of management.
Diagnosis and treatment of cancer during pregnancy are challenging. Cancer can often be successfully managed throughout pregnancy without causing harm to the unborn baby.