Cervical cancer in pregnancy: reporting on planned delay in therapy

To report our experience with invasive carcinoma of the cervix during pregnancy, assessing maternal morbidity due to treatment delay and reporting maternal and fetal outcome.

Twenty-seven patients with invasive cervical cancer, who were pregnant at the time of diagnosis or treatment, were identified from review of morbidity and mortality statistics between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1991. All medical records were examined retrospectively.

The incidence of cervical carcinoma in our population was 1.2 cases per 10,000 pregnancies. Most patients had stage I lesions. The predominant histologic cell type was squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenosquamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Eight patients with stage Ia or Ib cervical cancer postponed therapy to optimize fetal outcome, with a mean diagnosis-to-treatment interval of 144 days (range 53-212). Nineteen patients elected immediate treatment, with a mean diagnosis-to-treatment interval of 17 days (range 2-42). Fetal outcome was uniformly good for the delayed-treatment group. Nine fetal deaths and two neonatal deaths occurred in the immediate-treatment group. All patients who delayed therapy are free of disease after a median follow-up of 23 months.

Deliberate delay of therapy to achieve fetal maturity appears to be a reasonable option for patients with stage I cervical cancer complicating pregnancy.