Cancer during pregnancy: a review of 10 years of experience

Cancer is the second most common cause of death among women who are in reproductive ages; however it is not common during pregnancy. There are few numbers of documents concerning cancer and its related treatment outcomes and prognosis during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to review our experience about gestational cancer. In this retrospective chart review study, 25 pregnant women with any kind of diagnosed malignancy who attended hospitals in Uremia and Sanandaj city since 10 years ago were assessed. Cancer cases were verified by a pathologist using pathology and TNM system for tumors staging. Then survival duration was analyzed using Kaplan-Maier plot. From all, 10 women had gynecologic cancers and 15 had non-gynecologic cancers. Ovarian cancer was the most common malignancy. The mean of survival was 67 months for all patients (CI95%: 23.7-110.3), 67 months for gynecologic cancer group (CI95%: 40.2-93.8) and 69 months for non-gynecologic cancer group (CI95%: 0-159) (p = 0.51). According to the results, the cancer complaints and symptoms must be examined thoroughly and do not take them as pregnancy complications since delays in prognosis leads to more severe problems and makes treatment difficult. If cancer is treated carefully after three months of gestation, probably it won't have severe side effects for fetus.