What to do if you get pregnant with ovarian cancer

Pregnancy is the happiest and most special time for pregnant women. When you are looking forward to the birth of your baby, you find out that you have ovarian cancer. I believe this is an unbearable burden for every family. Ovarian cancer is a common clinical malignant tumor, which has a huge impact and harm on patients. So, what should you do if you are pregnant with ovarian cancer?

Pregnancy complicated with ovarian cancer usually occurs when the tumor first develops and then the pregnancy occurs. However, most patients do not have obvious symptoms before pregnancy, and even after pregnancy, they generally do not have any symptoms. Most cases are discovered accidentally during the first prenatal checkup or artificial abortion after pregnancy. When the ovarian tumor is large, it squeezes the uterus and fetus and causes an abnormal fetal position, which can result in miscarriage or premature birth.

When ovarian cancer is large, it can squeeze and cause abnormal fetal position, affecting normal delivery. In addition, when the tumor pedicle is too long, the tumor may fall into the uterine rectal fossa and become incarcerated, which will hinder the birth of the fetus and cause dystocia.

Among ovarian malignancies, epithelial carcinoma is the most common, followed by malignant germ cell tumors. During surgery, only 30% of patients with ovarian epithelial cancer are found to have tumors confined to the ovaries, while most have spread to the uterus, bilateral adnexa, greater omentum, and pelvic organs, so early diagnosis is a major problem.

Since ovarian malignancies, especially epithelial cancers, spread very early, most cases cannot be cleared during surgery, and the effect and application of radiotherapy are also very limited. Therefore, systemic chemotherapy is an important auxiliary treatment method. Especially for malignant germ cell tumors, standardized chemotherapy can significantly improve the survival rate of patients. For some advanced patients, the tumor can be reduced after chemotherapy, creating favorable conditions for satisfactory tumor reduction during surgery.

When pregnant women with ovarian cancer need radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it will affect the fetus. Even when treating malignant tumors, the fetus may have to be abandoned in order to save the life of the pregnant woman. If the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be effectively alleviated, the chances of mother and child being safe will be much greater.

Ovarian malignancies, especially epithelial cancer, are difficult to detect early and the cause is unknown. Except for hereditary ovarian cancer, there is no primary prevention measure. Currently, early diagnosis and treatment are advocated to detect lesions early. For patients who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer after pregnancy, they must not give up on themselves and refuse to accept the doctor's treatment. Patients and their families must follow the doctor's advice and do a good job of daily care and treatment. I believe they will get through the difficulties.