Perinatal outcomes for mothers with cancer during pregnancy: current data

• Elena S. Akhapkina
• Mziya I. Makieva
• Lamara M. Azueva
• Ekaterina A. Drozdova
• Evgeniya S. Polushkina
• Victor V. Zubkov

Abstract

In pregnancy combined with oncological disease, clinicians are faced with the task of treating the mother’s pathology without harming the development of the fetus and the health of the newborn. The modern algorithm for managing this cohort of patients includes prolonging pregnancy to full-term and chemotherapy treatment in the 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters.

Objective: evaluation of the neonatal course of babies, born from mothers with oncological diseases, taking into account the tactics of pregnancy prolongation and chemotherapу.

Material and methods. The study examined and compared the features of neonatal adaptation of 118 babies of the main (prospective) group (2021–2024), 115 of the retrospective group (2012–2019), born to women with oncological diseases during pregnancy and 100 children of the control group.

Results. In the prospective group, compared to the retrospective one, neonates were significantly more often born full-term [92 (78.0%) and 63 (54.8%), respectively, p<0.001]. However, the percentage of full-term deliveries in mothers with cancer (92 (78.0%)) is still statistically lower than in the control group [90 (90.0%)] (p=0.018). In the main study group, compared to the retrospective one, significantly more babies were considered healthy after birth, significantly fewer newborns required resuscitation in the delivery room. The percentage of newborns with a diagnosis of “Healthy” upon discharge in the prospective group (49.6%) is also significantly higher than the same indicator in the retrospective group (16.5%) (p<0.001).

Conclusion. Modern tactics of managing pregnancy associated with oncological disease using chemotherapy and prolongation to full-term allowed to significantly improve perinatal outcomes. Currently, the health indicators of children of this cohort are comparable to the indicators of children born to mothers without oncological disease during pregnancy.

Keywords: perinatal outcomes; newborn; oncological diseases during pregnancy; chemotherapy

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