The aim of this study was to assess the fertility outcome after ovarian transposition with uterine conservation and pelvic irradiation therapy for pelvic cancer. A total of 37 consecutive cases were reviewed. Of these, 27 patients were treated for a clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and/or the cervix (group 1), nine for an ovarian pure dysgerminoma and one for a para-uterine soft tissue sarcoma (group 2). The pregnancy rate was 15% (4/27) in group 1 and 80% (8/10) in group 2 (P=0.01). A total of 18 pregnancies was observed in 12 patients. Of these, 16 pregnancies were obtained spontaneously and two after in-vitro fertilization. Of the spontaneous pregnancies, 12 (75%) were observed with ovaries still in the abdominal cavity (not repositioned). These results show that the prognosis for fertility is excellent after ovarian transposition and irradiation in patients with morphologically normal genital tracts (group 2). The prognosis is not as good for patients treated for a clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and/or the cervix who may have morphological and/ or functional anomalies of the genital tract, following exposure to diethylstilboestrol and brachytherapy (group 1). Furthermore, these results show that repositioning of the ovary is not essential to achieve pregnancy.
Corpus involvement and clinically palpable nodes are highly statistically significant independent factors influencing overall survival. Node relapses remain a major cause of death. Thus, better management of lymph nodes is essential for improving survival even when conservative therapy is used to treat the primary.
Invasive cervical cancer during pregnancy is rare but is a dilemma for women and their physicians. The present study and review of the literature suggest that pregnancy does not seem to influence the prognosis of cervical cancer. Delayed treatment could be proposed to selected patients diagnosed at the end of the second trimester or at the beginning of the third trimester, with a small tumor (<2 cm) and negative nodes, after a multidisciplinary approach.
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