Invasive cervical cancer complicating intrauterine pregnancy: treatment with radical hysterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection have become the mainstay of treatment for early-stage cervical cancer because of both a high success rate and acceptable morbidity. However, those cervical lesions that occur concomitant with an intrauterine pregnancy have historically been treated with irradiation. We report the morbidity and results of radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection for the treatment of early-stage cervical cancer complicating intrauterine pregnancy.
METHODS: Between 1955-1991, 13 patients were treated with radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection with the fetus in situ, and eight others with cesarean delivery followed by radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection. Charts were reviewed retrospectively.
RESULTS: Mean operative time was 281 minutes. The mean blood loss was 777 mL with radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection alone, and 1750 mL with cesarean delivery, radical hysterectomy, and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection (P less than .01). Intraoperative morbidity included a single accidental cystotomy that was complicated in the postoperative period by a vesicovaginal fistula. Fever was the most common postoperative cause of morbidity (29%), while two patients (10%) had wound seromas and a single patient (5%) each had a pulmonary embolism, cystitis, and transfusion-related hepatitis. No perioperative deaths occurred. After documentation of maturity, seven healthy infants were delivered with no major morbidity. Twenty patients (95%) are alive and free of disease with a mean follow-up of 40 months.
CONCLUSION: Radical surgery offers immediate treatment for early-stage cervical cancer during intrauterine pregnancy, with low associated morbidity, acceptable survival, and preservation of ovarian function.