Diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer in pregnant women

Cancer Med. 2019 Sep;8(12):5425-5430. doi: 10.1002/cam4.2435. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Abstract

In recent years, the incidence of gynecological malignant tumors during pregnancy has increased, mainly due to the increased number of old age pregnancy. The most common gynecological malignant tumors in pregnancy are cervical cancer, accounting for 71.6%, followed by ovarian malignant tumors, accounting for 7.0%. The incidence of cervical cancer in pregnancy is itself not very high, and the symptoms are easily confused with other diseases in pregnancy. During pregnancy, gynecological examination is limited, and therefore, the rate of misdiagnosis is higher. The treatment of cervical cancer during pregnancy is related to many factors, such as tumor size, pathological type, period of gestation, lymph node involvement, and patients' willingness to maintain pregnancy. As a reason of these factors, it is difficult to determine the optimal treatment. This article reviews the research progress on the diagnosis and treatment principles of cervical cancer in pregnancy, in order to strike a balance between effective treatment of tumors and protection of fetal health, and avoid delays in treatment and preterm delivery.

Keywords: cervical cancer; chemotherapy; diagnosis; pregnancy; pregnancy with cervical cancer; tumor management; tumor staging.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Clinical Decision-Making
  • Disease Management
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Obstetric Labor, Premature / prevention & control
  • Practice Guidelines as Topic
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / diagnosis*
  • Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / therapy*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / therapy*