Key result
Prior anti-cancer therapy is not linked to adverse delivery outcomes, fetal weight, or gestation.
Why the study?
The impact of cancer treatment on fertility and pregnancy outcomes in young women remains a clinical concern.
Does cancer therapy affect delivery outcomes, fetal weight, or gestation in women who conceive following treatment?
Observational (n=40)
Does cancer therapy affect delivery outcomes, fetal weight, or gestation in women who conceive following treatment?
Cancer treatment does not appear to adversely affect subsequent delivery outcomes, fetal weight, or gestation in women who successfully conceive.
May reassure post-treatment pregnancy counseling in cancer survivors; leaves open confirmation in larger prospective cohorts.
While still rare, cancer has the reputation of being life-threatening in all its forms. Coupled with the survival of cancer comes a growing expectation from the patients that their life should be relatively unaffected. Among the side effects, there is frequently an effect on fertility. In particular, the treatment of the young with anti-cancer therapy raises questions about the patient's ability to achieve normal reproductive function and delivery following treatment. Between 1987 and 1998 we identified 40 women who conceived or delivered a fetus following treatment for cancer. They had undergone a combination of therapies including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Four had elected to be sterilised after completion of their family. It did not appear from the data collected that the therapy used for treatment of some cancers has had an adverse effect on delivery outcomes, expected weight of the fetus or the gestation of the pregnancy.
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Falconer et al. (2002) conducted an observational in Cancer (n=40). Anti-cancer therapy was evaluated on Delivery outcomes, expected weight of the fetus, and gestation of the pregnancy. Anti-cancer therapy did not appear to have an adverse effect on delivery outcomes, expected fetal weight, or gestation among 40 women who conceived or delivered following cancer treatment.