Written by Editorial Team
Developing different kinds of minor complications during the stage of pregnancy is not uncommon. But getting diagnosed with cancer when you are pregnant is an entirely different situation. It’s very unlikely that the growing baby will get affected when the mother is diagnosed with cancer, but some kinds of treatment may affect the baby. There is a very minute chance that you or your doctor may have to make the difficult choice of treating cervical cancer at the cost of the baby. And, it should be said here, that it is a clinical challenge for the health care team.
Cervical cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers during pregnancy.
Cervical cancer is a condition in which the cells lining the cervix grow out of control. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus which is generally known as ‘neck of the womb’. There are two main types of cervical cancer:
There are four stages of cervical cancer:
Women diagnosed with cervical cancer is around 0.8%. About 3% percent of these women diagnosed with cervical cancer are pregnant. One case out of thousand to five thousand pregnancies is reported to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.
But in most cases cervical cancer during pregnancy is detected in the early stage as the pregnant women undergo cervical examination and tests conducted as the part of routine checkups.
The symptoms and signs of cervical cancer during pregnancy are:
Some cancer symptoms such as vaginal bleeding are common during pregnancy. Sometimes a routine Pap test done as a part of pregnancy care can uncover cancer. Infact a Pap test should be done regularly to stay safe from cervical cancer.
Once any abnormality is detected in Pap test, to diagnose cancer:
It is the mild cervical abnormalities that could develop into cervical cancer if not treated in the early stage. Usually, no treatment is suggested when a woman is diagnosed with cervical dysplasia. Close observation and repeating the Pap test during the pregnancy till delivery is preferred.
Once the cervical cancer is diagnosed during pregnancy, the next step is determined by:
Chances of cancer effecting the pregnancy depends more on the treatment that is decided to be followed by the medical team.
Following are the situations that influence the treatment of cervical cancer during pregnancy:
So far no increased risk of birth defects is detected when the women in her second or third trimester undergo chemotherapy as the placenta stood as a barrier between the mother and baby. Some of the drugs used in chemotherapy won’t pass through the placenta. If it passes the amount will be in extremely small amount.
Chemotherapy is basically the process that involves destroying the cancer cells by interrupting the ability of the cell to grow and divide by using drugs.
Chemotherapy will result in low blood count of the mother which make her prone to infection. This infection could harm the unborn baby. Thus, chemotherapy can effect baby indirectly.
Your pregnancy will fall under ‘high-risk pregnancy’ type once you are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Therefore, your medical team must include an oncologist as well as a well-trained obstetrician who could handle high-risk pregnancy.
Make sure that you will get an opportunity to ask all your doubt to your medical team. If needed, you can go for a second opinion too.
With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting.Read more.
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