Pregnant Women With Malignant Ovarian Tumors: A Case Series

Helena Azimi; Seyyed Rasoul Sajjadi; Shohreh Saeed; Maryam Nakhaee; Amir Hosein Jafarian; Behrouz Davachi; Arezoo Naderi Moghaddam; Toktam Dehghani; Zohreh Yousefi

doi:10.18502/acta.v61i3.12741

Helena Azimi Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Seyyed Rasoul Sajjadi Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Shohreh Saeed Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Maryam Nakhaee Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Amir Hosein Jafarian Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Behrouz Davachi Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Arezoo Naderi Moghaddam Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Toktam Dehghani Department of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Zohreh Yousefi Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/acta.v61i3.12741

Keywords: Ovarian tumor; Pregnancy; Chemotherapy; Fertility-preserving surgery; Medical registery

Abstract

Ovarian cancer management during pregnancy is a topic of limited research due to low occurrence rates of malignant adnexal tumors. To shed further light on this issue, we present a case series of 22 pregnant ovarian cancer patients referred to an academic hospital's gynecology oncology department over six years. Data on each patient's demographic and clinical background were collected using a registry software recording surgical tumor staging, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). According to the data analysis reports, subtype epithelial tumor and germ cell pathology were equally 45.4%. However, sex-cord tumors were observed in a smaller percentage of cases (9.1%). Serous adenocarcinoma was the most common subtype among those with epithelial tumors (60%). Meanwhile, 72.7% of these pregnant women had a palpable mass in physical examination. In addition, adnexal mass was detected in 95.4% of ultrasonography. Due to the young age of the patients, fertility-preserving surgery was performed on 63.6% of patients, and chemotherapy was prescripted on 59% of patients. Over a six-year follow-up period, there was a recurrence rate of 22.7%, while DFS and OS were reported as 56% and 82%, respectively. In conclusion, treatment of ovarian malignancies during pregnancy requires an experienced multidisciplinary approach. However, more extensive studies with larger samples are needed to gain more insight into the treatment of ovarian cancer during pregnancy.