Treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia during pregnancy

Abstract

AIM: To study the experience in managing patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) diagnosed in different periods of pregnancy/MATERIAL AND METHODS: Nine women with APL were treated in 1998-2013. When APL was diagnosed in the first trimester of pregnancy, the latter was terminated (n=1); when its diagnosis was made in the second trimester, chemotherapy (CT) followed by delivery (D) was performed (n=3); when it was done in the third trimester, D followed by CT was done in relation to gestational age (n=2) or these were performed at a later gestational age (n=1). APL was treated in 5 and 1 patients according to the AIDA protocol and the 7+3 plus ATRA one, respectively/RESULTS: All the patients with APL achieved remission after the first cycle of induction CT; 5 of the 6 patients did at the moment of delivery; one patient underwent emergency delivery during cytopenia after the cycle. The gestational age at delivery after CT was 34 (34-40) weeks. Spontaneous term labor occurred in 2 patients at an obstetric hospital. Cesarean section was made in 4 of the 6 patients. All babies were born alive, healthy, and without developmental abnormalities. Their age at the time of analyzing the results was 2.5 months to 15 years. Four of the 9 patients are presently alive. Late recurrences occurred in 3 (33%) patients. The median overall survival is 26 (0.25-128) months; the median relapse-free survival is 17.5 (0-127) months/CONCLUSION: APL treatment in pregnant women, which is aimed at saving two lives, is effective and reasonable.

Keywords

• acute promyelocytic leukemia
• pregnancy
• chemotherapy
• all-trans retinoic acid (atra)
• atra