Cancer in pregnancy: Gaps, challenges and solutions

Pregnancy Screening in Patients With Cancer

“…5 For example, pregnant patients with cancer who receive multidrug chemotherapy in their first trimester have an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, fetal demise, and fetal malformations. 6 Radiation therapy can result in lowered IQ and fetal malformation, depending on gestational age of the fetus and exposure level. 6 Hormonal treatments such as tamoxifen can result in a high frequency of congenital abnormalities, requiring the use of reliable birth control during treatment.…”

“…6 Radiation therapy can result in lowered IQ and fetal malformation, depending on gestational age of the fetus and exposure level. 6 Hormonal treatments such as tamoxifen can result in a high frequency of congenital abnormalities, requiring the use of reliable birth control during treatment. 7 Given the risk of harmful exposure to a fetus from cancer treatment, it is necessary to have preventive guidelines, policies, and practices in place.…”

Management of Concurrent Pregnancy and Acute Lymphoblastic Malignancy in Teenaged Patients: Two Illustrative Cases and Review of the Literature

“…8,14 The patient in our second case had a history of breast mass predating the diagnosis of NHL by several weeks.…”

“…At these doses, no increase in fetal death, growth retardation, or congenital malformation has been observed. 8,13,17,18 However, abdominal and pelvic CT scans and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography scans entail high radiation exposure and are not recommended during pregnancy. 8 Iodinated contrast agents are deemed safe during pregnancy, allowing the use of gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.…”

“…It can be extremely difficult during early stages to differentiate pregnancy-related physiologic changes from the subtle, early signs of an evolving acute malignancy, and this mimicry may delay a cancer diagnosis. 1,[8][9][10][11][12][13] Interestingly, a recent systematic review of nonHodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in pregnancy observed that aggressive forms of NHL exhibit unique clinical and biological features during pregnancy, including frequent involvement of the reproductive organs (breast, ovary, uterus, and placenta).…”