Cervical cancer associated with pregnancy: results of a multicenter retrospective Korean study (KGOG-1006)

The objective of the study was to analyze the characteristics of cervical cancer associated with pregnancy.

Forty patients with cervical cancer associated with pregnancy were retrospectively identified between 1995-2003. Three controls for each case were matched on the basis of age, stage, histology, and date of treatment.

Sampling of cervical cytology after the second trimester was the most common cause of delayed diagnosis. Among 12 patients who delayed treatment for fetal maturity, 2 died of disease. There was no difference in overall survival between pregnant and nonpregnant patients with stage Ib tumors. In contrast to nonpregnant patients, the depth of stromal invasion was not correlated with the incidence of lymph vascular space involvement and lymph node metastasis in pregnant patients.

Thorough evaluation is warranted before deciding whether to delay treatment until fetal maturity. Pregnancy does not adversely affect the prognosis of early-stage cervical cancer significantly.