Carboplatin chemotherapy in a pregnant patient with undifferentiated ovarian carcinoma: case report and review of the literature.

There are already 12 reports of women treated by chemotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer during pregnancy. However, most cases received chemotherapy of single cisplatin or cisplatin-based regime, and only four cases received carboplatin-containing chemotherapy. We report the case of a woman treated with single-agent carboplatin during pregnancy. The patient underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy at 18 weeks of gestation and was diagnosed as having stage IC undifferentiated ovarian carcinoma. She was treated with four courses of carboplatin (area under the curve = 6.0) chemotherapy during pregnancy without severe toxicity. At 33 weeks of gestation, cesarean section was performed, followed by total hysterectomy, omentectomy, and pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. No residual disease was histologically shown. The patient underwent additional chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel. After one year of follow-up, the baby shows normal growth and the patient has no evidence of disease. Postponing the termination of pregnancy by single-agent carboplatin chemotherapy during pregnancy might be considered as an option for therapy in selected women with ovarian malignancies.