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Epidemiology and prognosis of malignant tumours in pregnancy

Publication at Central Library of Charles University |
2020

Abstract

The incidence of malignancy in pregnancy has long been a marginal issue; however, in the last decades, its incidence has been growing with the increasing age of expectant mothers. Malignant disease in pregnancy is a complication for approximately 20-40/100,000 pregnant women.

Cervical cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, and haematological malignancies are among the most common diagnoses. In the majority of cases, the prognosis of malignant disease discovered during pregnancy does not differ from that of unpregnant patients.

In many malignancies, however, early symptoms may be masked due to pregnancy changes, resulting in them being diagnosed at a later stage, particularly in the case of breast carcinoma or melanoma. When choosing the treatment strategy, it must be kept in mind that two lives are being influenced; therefore, centres specialised in this type of therapy should be in charge of doing that.