Pregnancy after cancer: FIGO Best practice advice

Cynthia Maxwell¹, Sumaiya Adam², Lina Bergman³, Surabhi Nanda⁴, Valerie Tiempo Guinto⁵, Noa Popovits-Hadari⁶, Maisah Al-Bakri⁷, Ifeyinwa Nwokoro⁷, Fionnuala McAuliffe⁸, Inge Peters⁹, Catherine Nelson-Piercy¹⁰, Frederic Amant¹¹, Melanie Nana¹⁰, Graeme Smith¹², Jonathan Berek¹³, Orla McNally¹⁴, Long Nguyen-Hoang^{15

16}, Virna P Medina-Palmezano¹⁷, Sharleen O'Reilly¹⁸, Francisco Ruiloba¹⁹, Pat O'Brien²⁰, Bo Jacobsson^{3

21

22}, Sarikapan Wilailak²³, Liona C Poon¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's College Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
⁶ Department of Oncology, Galili Medical Center, Bar Ilan University, Zefat, Israel.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ UCD Perinatal Research Centre, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
⁹ Department of Woman's and Child Health and Public Health Sciences, Gynaecologic Oncology Unit, Rome, Italy.
¹⁰ Division of Obstetric Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
¹¹ Department of Gynaecological Oncology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
¹² Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
¹⁶ Fetal Medicine Centre, Tam Anh HCMC General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
¹⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health, Universidad del Valle, Clínica Imbanaco Quirón Salud, Universidad Libre, Cali, Colombia.
¹⁸ UCD Perinatal Research Centre and School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
¹⁹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kings College London, London, UK.
²⁰ University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
²¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²² Division of Health Data and Digitalisation, Department of Genetics and Bioinformatics, Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
²³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand.

PMID: 40347102
PMCID: PMC12093925
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.70139

Practice Guideline

Pregnancy after cancer: FIGO Best practice advice

Cynthia Maxwell et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2025 Jun.

. 2025 Jun;169(3):1119-1126.

doi: 10.1002/ijgo.70139. Epub 2025 May 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's College Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
⁶ Department of Oncology, Galili Medical Center, Bar Ilan University, Zefat, Israel.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ UCD Perinatal Research Centre, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
⁹ Department of Woman's and Child Health and Public Health Sciences, Gynaecologic Oncology Unit, Rome, Italy.
¹⁰ Division of Obstetric Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
¹¹ Department of Gynaecological Oncology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
¹² Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
¹⁶ Fetal Medicine Centre, Tam Anh HCMC General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
¹⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health, Universidad del Valle, Clínica Imbanaco Quirón Salud, Universidad Libre, Cali, Colombia.
¹⁸ UCD Perinatal Research Centre and School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
¹⁹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kings College London, London, UK.
²⁰ University College London Hospitals, London, UK.
²¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²² Division of Health Data and Digitalisation, Department of Genetics and Bioinformatics, Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
²³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand.

PMID: 40347102
PMCID: PMC12093925
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.70139

Abstract

Advances in cancer care have led to a growing number of cancer survivors globally. As cancer increasingly affects women and people of reproductive age, more individuals will be experiencing pregnancy after completing cancer treatment. This Best Practice Advice manuscript describes the epidemiology of pregnancy after cancer, recommended clinical evaluation before pregnancy, key components of pregnancy care for cancer survivors, considerations for delivery planning and postpartum care, and suggested steps for future health and prevention.

Keywords: cancer; cancer survivorship; chemotherapy; childhood and adolescent cancer survivors; pregnancy; prematurity; radiotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

**FIGURE 1**
Incidence and mortality rates for all cancers in women aged 15–49 years worldwide. *Source*: GLOBOCAN, 2022.

**FIGURE 2**
Estimated incidence and mortality rates for the most common types of cancer in women aged 15–49 years, worldwide (a) and by Human Development Index (HDI; b, c). *Source*: GLOBOCAN, 2022.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Globocan 2022. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://gco.iarc.fr/today/en/dataviz/
1. Human Development Index. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hdr.undp.org/data‐center/human‐development‐index#/indicies/HDI
1. Baker KS, Syrjala KL. Long‐term complications in adolescent and young adult leukemia survivors. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2018;2018(1):146‐153. - PMC - PubMed
1. Suh E, Stratton KL, Leisenring WM, et al. Late mortality and chronic health conditions in long‐term survivors of early‐adolescent and young adult cancers: a retrospective cohort analysis from the childhood cancer survivor study. Lancet Oncol. 2020;21(3):421‐435. - PMC - PubMed
1. Low CE, Tan SYP, Loh A, et al. Post‐traumatic stress disorder and symptoms in paediatric cancer survivors and their family nucleus: systematic review, meta‐analysis and meta‐regression. BJPsych Open. 2024;10(6):e207. - PMC - PubMed

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Pregnancy after cancer: FIGO Best practice advice

Affiliations

Pregnancy after cancer: FIGO Best practice advice

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Research Materials