Chemotherapy in pregnancy

Abstract

The number of patients who require chemotherapy during pregnancy is small. Few individuals or institutions attain sufficient clinical experience with the management of cancer in pregnancy and the use of cytotoxic agents in the gravid patient. Our knowledge and treatment recommendations are based on anecdotal case reports and small retrospective series. There are no large prospective studies that address the use of chemotherapy during pregnancy. The interpretation of the literature is further complicated by the fact that, owing to the low incidence of cancer treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy, many case series include a cohort of patients treated over several decades with quite variable therapeutic regimens, many of which may not be relevant to modern oncologic practice.