[Radiotherapy during pregnancy]

Abstract

The diagnostic of cancer during pregnancy is a rare and delicate situation. As the developments of the embryo and the human fetus are extremely sensitive to ionizing radiations, the treatment of these tumors should be discussed. The studies - preclinical and clinical - based mostly on exposure accidents show that subdiaphragmatic treatments are possible during pregnancy. When radiotherapy is used, phantom estimations of the dose to the fetus, confirmed by in vivo measurements are required. Irradiation and imaging techniques should be arranged to decrease as much as possible the dose delivered to the fetus and hold below the threshold of 0.1Gy.

Keywords: Dose measurements; Fetus; Fœtus; Grossesse; Mesures de dose; Pregnancy; Radiation techniques; Radiotherapy; Radiothérapie; Techniques d’irradiation.