Ovarian cancer in pregnancy

Robert Fruscio, Jorine de Haan, Kristel Van Calsteren, Magali Verheecke, Mina Mhallem, Frederic Amant

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44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although the occurrence of ovarian masses in pregnancy is relatively common, the majority of them is functional and resolve spontaneously; nevertheless, ovarian cancer is the fifth most common malignancy diagnosed in pregnancy. If malignancy is suspected, treatment should be decided on the basis of gestational age, stage of the disease and patient preferences. In early stage, ovarian cancer surgery may be planned preferably after 16 weeks of pregnancy, and chemotherapy can be administered from the second trimester if indicated as in nonpregnant patients. In advanced-stage disease, when complete cytoreduction is not achievable, neoadjuvant chemotherapy could be administered even in pregnancy. Chemotherapy should be a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel in epithelial ovarian cancer patients and a combination of cisplatin, vinblastin and bleomycin in non-epithelial ovarian cancer. The outcome of patients with ovarian cancer diagnosed in pregnancy is similar to non-pregnant patients, and stage of the disease is the most important prognostic factor. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)108-117
JournalBaillière's Best Practice and Research. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Volume41
Early online date2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017

Keywords

  • chemotherapy in pregnancy
  • ovarian cancer
  • pregnancy
  • surgery in pregnancy

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