Can You Get Pregnant With Cervical Cancer Before Treatment

Bleeding After Sex And Between Periods

Another symptom of vaginal ectropion is bleeding after intercourse and in between periods. This usually occurs sometime after period or even before period. If you normally experience slight or light bleeding that is not your menstrual period, it could be erosion in your cervix.

• The columnar cells are fragile and may break easily.
• Any kind of trauma or pressure in this region can easily cause the bleeding.
• Cervical erosion and bleeding in early pregnancy for almost no reason may be related to this condition.

Bleeding may also occur after bowel movement. If you experience post coital spotting or bleeding especially during pregnancy, you should see a doctor for checkup just to make sure it is nothing serious.

Experimental Technique For Fertility Preservation

Another experimental procedure that has had recent media attention is uterine transplantation. A 1-year follow-up report of the first uterine transplant trial was published in 2015 . The trial involved uterine transplantation in 9 patients with normal ovarian function who had previously undergone IVF and had cryopreserved embryos. One patient had a history of hysterectomy for cervical cancer. Of the 9 transplanted uteri, 2 were removed within the first 6 months, one due to chronic infection and the other due to bilateral uterine vessel thrombosis. In addition to these grade III surgical complications in the recipients, one of the donors developed a ureterovaginal fistula. Participants were placed on an immunosuppressive protocol. After 1 year of follow-up, 5 of the 7 recipients who kept their transplanted uterus experienced rejection episodes which were all asymptomatic and managed with an intensification of the immunosuppressive regimen. Spontaneous menses occurred in all 7 women within 2 months of transplantation. The plan was to transfer embryos after 1218 months post-transplant, and a 46 month rejection-free period, and to remove the uterus after 12 successful pregnancies. As of December, 2015 there were apparently 4 healthy babies born to this cohort .

Patient Reported Outcomes After Fertility

While we have made impressive technological advances in early cervical cancer management, the long-term effects of cancer survivorship on quality of life are still not fully understood . Several prospective observational studies have assessed patient reported outcomes after fertility-sparing surgery in early cervical cancer. In 2010, Carter et al. conducted a 2-year prospective study assessing the emotional, sexual, and quality of life concerns of women undergoing radical trachelectomy versus radical hysterectomy for treatment of early-stage cervical cancer . Pre-operatively, both groups reported increased depression, distress, and sexual dysfunction. Although these measurements improved over time, they did not differ significantly by surgery type. This highlights the challenges faced by young cancer survivors in general. After a few years of procedural experience with non-radical fertility-sparing surgery, Song et al., in 2013, examined the effects of surgical radicality on sexual functioning . Women who had undergone non-radical surgery experienced less sexual dysfunction than those who had undergone radical surgery. There was no difference between those who had undergone radical trachelectomy versus radical hysterectomy . While these non-randomized studies generate important hypotheses, they are limited by small sample sizes.

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Are There Any Risks To Having A Cervical Screening

There are no risks in having a cervical screening test or, if you need one, a colposcopy.

If a colposcopy finds abnormal cells in your cervix you may be offered treatment to remove them.

There are various types of treatments and these can have side effects including:

• mild pain, similar to period pain
• light vaginal bleeding.

There is also a small risk of more serious complications such as:

• an infection
• a slightly increased risk of having a baby 1 to 2 months early in future pregnancies.

Sometimes, treatment to remove abnormal cells from your cervix can be done at the same time as a colposcopy if it’s obvious that some of the cells in your cervix are abnormal. Speak to your doctor before your appointment if you have any concerns about the side effects of treatment.

Management Of Ccip Patients In China

There is not enough evidence to indicate the optimal treatment for CCIP patients. However, guidelines for the optional treatment of cervical cancer in pregnant patients have recently been published, which include expert recommendations based on limited data on cancer treatment efficacy during pregnancy . Treatment decisions must consider many factors, including GA at diagnosis and patients’ preferences for pregnancy outcomes. When the continuation of the pregnancy is not the purpose, management is similar to non-pregnant women. In our study, 91% of the TOP patients terminated their pregnancies during the first or second gestation trimesters, and 9% were in the third trimester when the potential exists to continue a pregnancy by taking postponed treatment. This indicates that knowledge of active management using surgery or NACT should be strengthened for options aimed at the continuation of pregnancy.

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Pregnancy After A Cone Biopsy

A cone biopsy removes a cone shaped wedge of tissue from your cervix. It can cause particular problems with future pregnancies. But these are not common.

Ask your doctor how much tissue was removed. If less than 10mm was removed then it shouldn’t cause problems. If more than 10mm was removed, then in pregnany they can monitor your cervix.

Simple Or Radical Trachelectomy

if you are interested in preserving your fertility, and you have small tumors and are in the early stages of cervical cancer, your doctor might suggest one of these procedures. Both remove most or all of the cervix — a lot more than with a cone biopsy. The “radical” version may also involve taking out some of the surrounding tissue, some of your upper vagina, and nearby lymph nodes.

As with conization, you should wait 6 to 12 months to conceive after getting a trachelotomy. After that time, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term. Your chances of carrying a pregnancy to term are as high as 70%. Your pregnancy will still be considered high-risk, though, and you will need to have your baby by C-section.

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Dont Rush Think Through Fertility Options Before Cancer Treatment

When you hear, You have cancer, you may feel the need to start treatment immediately. Even if your doctor talks about your fertility options, you may be in shock from your cancer diagnosis and block it out or not hear everything your physician says. Thats why we as doctors must do a thorough job of educating our patients about their choices and reminding them about their options over multiple visits.

For most women, a two- to three-week delay wont compromise cancer treatment. Its important to ask about your options and if youre told you dont have any, consider a second opinion.

A couple years ago, we saw a woman who had been diagnosed with uterine cancer. She had been told that hysterectomy was her only treatment option, so she came to us for a second opinion. Her face lit up when we told her there was another option: progestin therapy.

Just recently, our now cancer-free patient introduced us to her new baby, which made us giddy! It reminded us of what is possible when patients are armed with the right information.

So, pause, and talk with your oncologist and a fertility treatment specialist about your options before beginning treatment. The gynecologic oncologist, the fertility specialist and the obstetrician will take into account your wishes and work closely together to provide the best cancer treatment while maintaining your fertility whenever possible.

Can You Have Kids After Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is frequently diagnosed in young women, and a very important question many women receiving this diagnosis have is how this will affect their fertility and ability to carry a pregnancy.

“Your ability to become pregnant and carry a pregnancy will vary depending on what type of treatment you receive for your cervical cancer,” says Katherine LaVigne Mager, MD, Assistant Professor of Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Early-stage cervical cancers can often be treated with surgical approaches that do preserve your ability to become pregnant and carry a pregnancy. If you require a hysterectomy or radiation, you would not be able to. However, there are still options through assisted reproductive technology that could allow you to have a biological child.”

Fertility sparing options are primarily available for women who are diagnosed with early-stage disease, or disease that is still small and confined to the cervix. Two examples of treatment options that your doctor may recommend are cold knife cone biopsy and radical trachelectomy. In a cold knife cone biopsy, only the portion of the cervix where the cancer is located is removed. If the outer edges of the biopsy contain negative margins then no further cervix needs to be removed.

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Any patient of reproductive age can be referred to the Onco-Fertility Program.

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What Can Cause Fertility Problems

When a couple makes a baby, this is called conceptionor reproduction. When a baby is conceived naturally, a lot of things must take place for it to happen. For example, we know a female is born with all the eggs she will ever have and theyre stored in her ovaries. Any change in how the ovaries work, or a change in a hormone that’s needed to release an egg from the ovary during monthly cycles , can cause conception not to happen. In other words, there can be a body system malfunction that can change a woman’s fertility and affect her ability to get pregnant and carry a child through a pregnancy. Certain health problems, including cancer, can affect these things.

Females can be diagnosed as infertile if:

• The ovaries dont contain healthy eggs
• Hormones that are needed to help with egg release are disrupted
• A tumor or other problem might press on the ovaries or uterus and cause them not to work properly
• Damage to other parts of the reproductive system prevents eggs from being released, fertilized, or implanted
• A fertilized egg cannot grow inside the uterus
• Something happens that won’t allow a fetus to be carried through the full pregnancy, causing a miscarriage

In many cases, cancer surgery or treatments can be more likely than cancer itself to interfere with some parts of the reproductive process and affect your ability to have children. Different types of surgeries and treatments can have different effects. The risk of infertility varies depending on:

Can The Leep Affect Pregnancy

If your doctor discovers high-grade abnormal cells during pregnancy, youll have to wait until after giving birth to have the LEEP performed. Having a LEEP prior to pregnancy doesnt increase the likelihood of miscarriage. The procedure can cause difficulty in the early stages of labor for a small number of women who develop cervical stenosis. Women with this condition can take longer to dilate than average, but a Gyn/Ob can use various methods to help stretch the cervix.

In the past, doctors would check the length of the cervix in women whove had a LEEP. Thats because theyre more likely to have a shortened cervix, which doctors thought could affect the ability of the cervix to stay closed during pregnancy, thus leading to preterm birth. However, recent studies indicate that cervical dysplasia abnormal cells in the cervix caused by HPV and other risk factors such as smoking are more strongly linked with preterm birth than the LEEP itself.

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What Is Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is basically cancer of the uterus. The ailment starts when the cells in the cervix start multiplying unhindered. They grow and reach a pre-cancerous stage, from where they soon begin multiplying rapidly. In some cases, these cancer cells multiply to an extreme stage really fast within a year, while usual case reports indicate that it takes years for the cells to go from pre-cancerous to the cancerous stage.

How To Treat Cervical Mucus Hostility To Get Pregnant

Treatment for cervical mucus hostility can be based on the contributing factors and causes. They may be:

• Antifungal or antibiotics can be used for the treatment of any cervical or vaginal infection.
• Mucus hostility may be caused due to higher doses of Clomifene. So changing or lowering the treatment can be done.
• The quality and production of cervical mucus can be improved by a short-term prescription of ethinyl estradiol which a synthetic estrogen.
• Though improvement of fertility is questionable, taking a cough remedy which has guaifenesin is known to lessen the thickness of cervical mucus.
• If there are no signs of anti-sperm antibodies and other infections, fertility-friendly lubricants can be used.
• Bypassing of the cervix can be done with intrauterine insemination.

If infertility persists and all the treatment efforts are unsuccessful then in vitro fertilization can be explored.

Though it is common among infertile women, cervical mucus hostility is mostly one of the last things that are tested for an infertile woman. If your doctor is unable to find any other causes for your inability to get pregnant, you should consider checking for this problem.

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Explains That Not Being Able To Have Children Was Not A Problem When She Started A New Relationship

Another focused on projects, holidays and doing things that she would not otherwise have done if she had a second child . A third who had not had any children before she was diagnosed said she got enjoyment from her siblings’ and friends’ children, that over time she had accepted her infertility and had found other ways to have happiness.Some had pursued other options to have children. A few had investigated having their eggs frozen before treatment but were not able to because their cancer was quite advanced and they needed to start treatment straight away. Another describes the cryo-ovarian preservation operation she had before radiotherapy, which had given her hope that future scientific developments may enable her to use her ovarian tissue to have a child of her own.

One woman who had a hysterectomy but did not have her ovaries removed was finding out about surrogacy and IVF options. A third newly diagnosed young woman, felt that in the future she could pursue options of surrogacy, IVF or adoption and said that her hopes of having a child were not lost, just different to the way she thought she would have a family.

For information on infertility see Infertility Network UK or the Daisy Network which is a support charity for women who have been through premature menopause .

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month: Can You Get Pregnant After Recovery

• Regular screening and early detection are the key to fight cervical cancer. If diagnosed at early stage, those who wish to start their family post recovery have high chances of conceiving.

Parmita Uniyal

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2022: Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the cervix – the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. It is caused by various strains of HPV , a sexually transmitted infection. While majority of people who are exposed to it are able to evade the infection, in a very few the virus is able to survive and cause some cervical cells to turn cancerous.

The fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, the awareness about it among both young girls and boys for its prevention is the need of the hour considering it doesn’t discriminate between men and women. The most important thing you can do to help prevent cervical cancer is to get vaccinated early and have regular screening tests.

In India, cervical cancer contributes to 6-29% of all cancers in women and accounts for 24% of all cervical cancer cases worldwide. As per WHO statistics, 45,300 Indian women died of cervical cancer in 2019. Considering the cancer is very much preventable – one can even get vaccinated for it and reduce the chance of getting it significantly and treatable if detected at early stages, the lack of awareness about the disease is disheartening.

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Pregnancy After Cancer Treatment

Often, pregnancy after cancer treatment is safe for both the mother and baby. Pregnancy does not seem to raise the risk of cancer coming back. Still, some women may be told to wait a number of years before trying to have a baby. How long depends on several factors:

• The type of cancer and stage

• Type of treatment

• A womans age

Some health care providers recommend that women not get pregnant in the first 6 months after finishing chemotherapy. They say that any damaged eggs will leave the body within those first 6 months. Other health care providers suggest waiting 2 to 5 years before trying to have a baby. This is because the cancer may be more likely to come back in the earlier years. And cancer treatment during pregnancy is more complicated.

Cervical Cancer And Pregnancy

The standard treatments for cervical cancer, a hysterectomy and pelvic radiation, result in permanent sterility. Select patients with early-stage cancer could qualify for fertility-sparing options. These include radical fertility-sparing trachelectomy. Furthermore, the cervix is removed but the uterus is spared.

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How Cancer Treatments May Affect Pregnancy

Treatments can affect a future pregnancy in many ways:

• Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy may affect the support cells and blood supply of the uterus. It also may increase the chances of miscarriage, early birth, low birth weight, and other problems.

• Surgery to the cervix. Removing all or part of the cervix may make miscarriage or early birth more likely. This is because the cervix may not be able to support a developing pregnancy.

• Chemotherapy. Anthracycline chemotherapy includes treatment with doxorubicin , daunorubicin , epirubicin , and idarubicin . These treatments may damage heart cells and weaken the heart.

  As a result, the heart needs to work harder during pregnancy and labor. Sometimes, anthracycline chemotherapy is used with radiation therapy to the upper abdomen or chest. This combination increases the risk of heart problems.