Pregnant cancer patients gain new hope

Pregnant women diagnosed with cancer could undergo radiation treatment without risk to the foetus, scientists find.

LONDON // Researchers say women who have cancer while pregnantcan be treated in almost the same way as other patients, with minimal risk to the foetus.

Only about one in 1,000 women face this problem but doctors fear the number will rise because cancer risk increases with age and more women are delaying pregnancy.

Doctors have long worried about balancing a woman's treatment with the need to protect her foetus from toxic drugs and radiation.

Papers in the journals Lancet and Lancet Oncology, published on Friday, make key contributions.

A Belgian-led study of 70 children in Europe exposed to chemotherapy while in the womb found they developed as well as other children. They were assessed at birth, 18 months, and every few years to the age of 18.

Chemotherapy after the first trimester is possible using extra ultrasounds to ensure the foetus is developing properly. And radiation is best done in the first two trimesters, a review of previous studies led by Belgian researchers showed.

"Treating a pregnant woman with cancer doesn't have to be so different from treating a cancer patient who isn't pregnant," said an author of two of the papers, Dr Frederic Amant of the Leuven Cancer Institute in Belgium.

* Maria Cheng, Associated Press