Melanoma in pregnancy: Diagnosis and management in early-stage and advanced disease

Thomas J Carter; Christina George; Catherine Harwood; Paul Nathan

doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2022.02.016

Melanoma in pregnancy: Diagnosis and management in early-stage and advanced disease

Eur J Cancer. 2022 May:166:240-253. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2022.02.016. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

Authors

Thomas J Carter¹, Christina George², Catherine Harwood³, Paul Nathan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex, UK.
² Department of Dermatology, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
³ Department of Dermatology, Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, Whitechapel, London, UK.
⁴ Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, Middlesex, UK. Electronic address: p.nathan@nhs.net.

PMID: 35325701
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2022.02.016

Abstract

Approximately one-third of women diagnosed with melanoma are of child-bearing age. The annual incidence of melanoma has risen steadily over the last 40 years, resulting in increasing numbers of women diagnosed with melanoma both during pregnancy, and post-partum. To date, there are no formal guidelines on the management of pregnancy associated melanoma (PAM), both early stage and metastatic. This article reviews the existing literature and provides a framework for the investigation and multidisciplinary management of PAM.

Keywords: Management; Melanoma; Pregnancy; Skin cancer.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Incidence
Melanoma* / diagnosis
Melanoma* / epidemiology
Melanoma* / therapy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic* / diagnosis
Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic* / therapy
Skin Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Skin Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Skin Neoplasms* / therapy