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Introduction/Background Cancer in pregnancy (CIP) is a rare complication which can occur during pregnancy or within 12 months after delivery. An early diagnosis is crucial to ensure optimal maternal and fetal outcomes. The aim of this study is to evaluate hematological toxicity of chemotherapy during CIP, since myelosuppression could be an important side effect. Methodology This is a retrospective single-center cohort study of 59 patients treated for CIP in 'IRCCS Policlinico Milano', between 2016 and 2023. Chemotherapy was the treatment of choice in 47 patients (79.6%), alone or after surgery. Among these, we considered only the 40 patients with breast cancer, the most common of CIP (67.8%). We divided our population in two groups: 18 patients who received up to 4 cycles (1st group); 22 patients who received at least 5 cycles (2nd group). Most of the patients were treated with Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide, followed by weekly Taxol. Results Blood tests were made after every cycle of chemotherapy. Analyzing the results, we focused on the value of neutrophils, platelets and hemoglobin. Neutrophils values remained stably within normal ranges in both groups. Regarding platelets, the 2nd group showed a reduction at the end of the cycles, but the values never dropped below the normal threshold. Hemoglobin is the only parameter of which a reduction was marked in the second group (11.3%), but anemia is a very common problem during pregnancy, affecting 37% of pregnant women with a reduction of 30% of the starting value at the end of pregnancy. For this reason, the only finding of anemia is not indicative of toxicity. No others adverse effects were observed. Conclusion Therapeutic standards for treatment of breast CIP seem to be safe: our experience shows a similar trend in the two groups of patients, not causing myelosuppression as the number of cycles increases. Disclosures No conflict of interest.
Carignani et al. (Fri,) studied this question.