Pregnancy following treatment for malignancy

Abstract

Key content Increasing numbers of women are surviving cancer in childhood or early adulthood. Treatments for malignancy can cause long-term damage to a number of organs; this is frequently unappreciated by both patients and obstetricians. Pregnancy in women who have been exposed to treatments for cancer can be potentially problematic but most have a good outcome. A good understanding and initial assessment optimises the outcome for this group of women. Learning objectives To understand the implications of previous cancer treatments. To be able to plan management for this group of women in pregnancy. Ethical issues Should young survivors of malignancy be given improved information on the potential deleterious effects that their, often life-saving, treatment has had on other body systems? Should all female survivors of malignancy be offered routine prepregnancy counselling? Keywords: cancer / chemotherapy / pregnancy / radiotherapy Linked resource: Single best answer questions are available for this article at https