B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia in pregnancy

Justin Bottsford-Miller1, Sina Haeri, Arthur M Baker

  • 1Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 3010 Old Clinic Building, CB# 7516, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7516, USA.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a rare occurrence in pregnancy and can be rapidly fatal if left untreated. The need for immediate treatment of ALL, coupled with the maternal-fetal risks from the chemotherapy regimen render a therapeutic dilemma in pregnant women with ALL. We report a case of ALL diagnosed in the 24th week of pregnancy to outline our management strategy, to demonstrate the feasibility of treatment with multi-agent chemotherapy, and to provide a review of the literature.