Article Text
Abstract
Introduction/Background Adnexal masses are commonly detected during routine fetal ultrasound screening. Nonetheless, since malignant adnexal tumors rarely occur in pregnancy, limited data is available regarding the management of this condition. Herein, we describe a series of ovarian cancer cases diagnosed and managed during pregnancy.
Methodology This case series describes 22 pregnant patients with ovarian cancer who were referred to the gynecology oncology department of an academic hospital within 6 years. Demographic and clinical characteristics of cases were gathered in checklists. Surgical staging of the tumors as well as disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined in all patients.
Results The pathologic subtype in 45.4% of the patients was epithelial. In another 45.4%, the subtype was germ cell, and the remaining 9.1% had sex-cord tumors. In epithelial tumors, the most common subtype was serous adenocarcinoma (60%). Most of the patients had a palpable mass during physical examination (72.7%) or an adnexal mass in ultrasonography (95.4%). We performed fertility-preserving surgery on 14 patients (63.6%) and 13 (59%) patients received chemotherapy. The recurrence rate was 22.7% and DFS and OS were 56% and 82%, respectively in a 6-year follow-up.
Conclusion Ovarian malignancy is a rare event during pregnancy and its management requires an experienced multidisciplinary approach. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to provide more insight into the management of ovarian cancer throughout pregnancy.
Disclosures None.