Hodgkin's disease and pregnancy

Pregnancy in women suffering from malignant tumours presents difficult problems and, on the whole, is undesirable. It is agreed that pregnancy makes the prognosis of carcinoma mammae worse, especially in women who are pregnant when the tumour is detected. This is emphasized by, among others, BULL ENGELSTAD, in his compilation of the therapeutic results of carcinoma mammae at The Norwegian Radium Hospital (N. R. H.). There is less agreement as regards other forms of cancer. Some investigators have tried to elucidate the problem by means of animal experiments. Most of the results concerning carcinoma mammae seem t o be the same as the observations made in women. For some other types of cancer the animal experiments have revealed exactly the opposite, i. e., regression of the tumour during pregnancy. HOMBURGER and TREGIER arrived a t this conclusion with Sarcoma 180 implanted in albino Swiss mice. The results of such investigations cannot be applied directly as a proof of the fate of malignant tumours in human subjects. They do, however, represent interesting observations which show that the situation is neither simple nor uniform. Against this background the discussion as to the influence of pregnancy on the course of the disease in women suffering from Hodgkin’s disease is readily understandable. The disease is usually considered as neoplastic. It occurs in all age groups, but is rare in chddhood and old age. Hodgkin’s disease presents a complex pathologic picture and is classified in three groups by JACKSON and PARKER: Hodgkin’s paragranuloma, granuloma, and sarcoma. Microscopically they all share the-’ common