[Pregnancy after malignant melanoma. A follow-up of 23 patients]

The influence of pregnancy on the recurrence of cutaneous malignant melanoma in women

Objective. The aim of this study was to determine whether pregnancy increases the recurrence risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) in women with a history of stage I CMM. Methods. The electronic medical databases of Medline and Embase were explored. All 1084 obtained articles were screened on title and abstract using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A critical appraisal of relevance and validity was conducted on the remaining full text available articles. Results. Two studies were selected. Both studies revealed no significant difference in disease-free survival between women with stage I CMM and the control population. Conclusion. Pregnancy does not increase the recurrence risk of CMM in women with a history of stage I CMM.

Does pregnancy influence the prognosis of malignant melanoma?

The effect of pregnancy on the clinical course of malignant melanoma (MM) is unclear. Early clinical and laboratory evidence suggested a relation between hormones and MM and subsequently between pregnancy and MM. We reviewed the literature on MM and pregnancy to address three questions: What is the effect on prognosis if an MM is diagnosed during pregnancy? What is the effect of previous pregnancies on the prognosis of MM? What effect does a subsequent pregnancy have on the prognosis of MM? On the basis of a limited number of controlled studies, it does not appear that being pregnant before, after, or at the time of diagnosis of stage I MM influences the 5-year survival rate. However, caution in interpreting these data must be taken because it is possible that the duration of follow-up and size of the study populations are not sufficient to observe a true effect.

Melanoma and pregnancy. A review

In the last half-century the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma has increased all over the world according to available reports. No association between risk of melanoma and age at menarche, first birth, menopause or duration of reproductive period has been proven so far. Studies on the effect of parity on relative risk and survival have given divergent results with multiparous women possibly having a better prognosis than nullipara. Women with melanoma diagnosed during pregnancy tend to have thicker tumours, shorter disease-free interval and, maybe, lower 10-year survival rate than non-pregnant matched controls. There is no conclusive evidence that therapeutic abortion improves the cure rate. Multivariate analysis has failed to unveil impaired prognosis in women who become pregnant subsequent to diagnosis.