Pregnancy rate and outcome of pregnancies in long-term survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma

Ann Hematol. 2019 Aug;98(8):1947-1952. doi: 10.1007/s00277-019-03684-0. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Abstract

Thanks to the increased number of young survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), management of the pregnancies of women who have a history of exposure to chemotherapies and radiation therapy is becoming increasingly common. Many patients and clinicians are worried that pregnancy after the diagnosis of HL may increase the risk of relapse, despite a lack of empirical evidence to support such concerns. In the present study, we included 89 women diagnosed with HL between 2006 and 2015 under the age of 50 years, who were in complete remission and alive without relapse > 1 year after treatment. We determined the pregnancy rate, time to pregnancy, and the disease-free survival. We found no evidence of significant impairment of the fertility of female HL long-term survivors and no evidence that a pregnancy increases the relapse rate among women in remission from HL. Survivors of HL need to consider a range of factors when deciding on future reproduction.

Keywords: Fertility; Hodgkin; Pregnancy.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anti-Mullerian Hormone / blood
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Bleomycin / therapeutic use
  • Dacarbazine / therapeutic use
  • Doxorubicin / therapeutic use
  • Female
  • Fertility / physiology*
  • Hodgkin Disease / blood
  • Hodgkin Disease / drug therapy*
  • Hodgkin Disease / pathology
  • Humans
  • Live Birth
  • Menstrual Cycle / physiology
  • Middle Aged
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Rate / trends*
  • Remission Induction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survivors*
  • Vinblastine / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Bleomycin
  • Vinblastine
  • Dacarbazine
  • Doxorubicin
  • Anti-Mullerian Hormone

Supplementary concepts

  • ABVD protocol