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Melanoma and pregnancy

  • Chapter
Epidemiological Aspects of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma

Part of the book series: Developments in Oncology ((DION,volume 73))

Abstract

Women diagnosed with cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) consistently have a better prognosis than men with this disease [1–3]. However, early case reports suggested that melanomas associated with pregnancy followed a more aggressive course and were rapidly fatal [4]. These reports led physicians in 1954 to recommend more aggressive treatment for pregnant women with melanoma, including termination of early pregnancy if a melanoma was diagnosed, and sterilization after diagnosis to prevent future pregnancies [5]. Despite subsequent studies using numerous diverse methods with results that showed little or no effect of pregnancy on survival from melanoma, controversy continued over the effect of pregnancy on this cancer [6]. A review of eleven studies conducted between 1960 and 1984 concluded that there were relatively few deleterious effects of pregnancy on the survival of the majority of women who have been diagnosed with melanoma [7], and this report updates and expands that review.

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Authors
  1. Elizabeth A. Holly
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  2. Rosemary D. Cress
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Richard P. Gallagher

  2. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    J. Mark Elwood

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Holly, E.A., Cress, R.D. (1994). Melanoma and pregnancy. In: Gallagher, R.P., Elwood, J.M. (eds) Epidemiological Aspects of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma. Developments in Oncology, vol 73. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2626-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2626-1_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6126-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2626-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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