Carcinoma of the cervix and pregnancy

A simultaneous occurrence of carcinoma of the cervix and pregnancy is uncommon. In a cooperative study a total of 1092 patients treated for cervical cancer were examined. Forty of these women were either pregnant at the time of surgery or were operated on postpartum. The course of the disease for these patients was compared to that of 426 non-pregnant women with cervical cancer. The analysis of tumor grading and tumor growth revealed no remarkable differences. Remarkable, however, was the increased frequency of blood vessel invasion observed in pregnant patients, particularly in puerperal patients. Also the percentage of macrometastases was higher in puerperal and/or postpartum patients. These findings might explain the worse prognosis for these women.