Chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer and pregnancy

BACKGROUND

Carcinoma of the cervix is the most common malignant tumor associated with pregnancy. The initial stages and premalignant lesions apparently present the same prognosis in pregnant and nonpregnant women; however, there are limited data regarding outcome for locally advanced cervical cancer in pregnancy.

CASE

A 26-year-old woman, gravida 4, para 3, at 14 weeks and 4 days' gestation, was diagnosed with a FIGO stage IIB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, treated by primary chemotherapy with cisplatin and bleomycin, until pregnancy resolution at 38 weeks. The newborn infant is currently 3 years old and presents no evidence of abnormalities in neuropsychomotor development.

CONCLUSION

The present case demonstrates that chemotherapy was harmless for the child up to the present time. However, a longer follow-up is needed to determine the safe outcome of this child.

Hemangiosarcoma of the Breast Followed by Term Pregnancy

Aims and background

Primary angiosarcoma of the breast is an unusual neoplasm which is generally associated with a dismal prognosis. Given the poor prognosis and the predominance in the third and fourth decades of life when fertility tends to decrease, reports of term pregnancies after treatment of this disease are rare.

Methods and study design

We report a case of angiosarcoma of the breast in a 17-year-old patient with a recurrent breast nodule treated by local surgery only. After three years of follow-up without evidence of disease recurrence she became pregnant.

Results

A girl weighing 2,430 g was delivered at 38 weeks and two days. The patient has been free of disease for five years now.

Conclusions

Our experience of the present case shows the lack of full information about this tumor. Pregnancy does not seem to interfere negatively with the course of the disease.

Action of alpha-methyldopa on human umbilical circulation in vitro

To determine the possible effects of alpha-methyldopa on the motility of human umbilical artery, a total of 53 arterial segments were perfused with different concentrations of the drug as follows: 38 segments with 125, 250 and 500 ng/ml of the drug, 9 segments with 500 ng/ml alpha-methyldopa in combination with 10(-7) M yohimbine, and 6 segments with 10(-7) M yohimbine alone. alpha-Methyldopa had a vasoconstrictor effect at all doses employed, with a clear dose-effect correlation (p less than 0.01). The vasoconstrictor effect of 500 ng/ml alpha-methyldopa was fully inhibited in the presence of 10(-7) M yohimbine. These results suggest that alpha 2-adrenergic receptors are present in the umbilical circulation and that alpha-methyldopa may play a role in the control of this circulation.