Carcinoma Cervix in Pregnancy-A Challenge for All

Of all the rights of women, to become a mother is greatest. Nature has endowed every woman with the power of procreation. But how, at times, she has to suffer series of obstacles to achieve this goal, challenging her own life. Carcinoma Cervix is the most challenging cancer during pregnancy as the pregnant uterus itself is affected. It’s a challenge for all the mother, the family and the treating physician. Every year, 500000 new cases of invasive ca cervix are diagnosed. Of all cancers that affect women in India, cervical cancer is the second most common. Disease Burden in Pregnancy In developed countries, the incidence and mortality have declined over past decades due to increased availability of cancer screening program [1,2]. But, it is still high among developing nations and remains a major cause of cancer death among women of low socioeconomic countries. This strongly links the incidence with the economic development. Incidence rates vary from 0.1 to 12/10,000 pregnancy for carcinoma cervix and 1.30 to 2.7/1000 pregnancies for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia [3]. Ca cervix is not uncommon to be diagnosed these days, during pregnancy [4]. The frequency of cervical cancer during pregnancy is increasing and will continue to increase as long as women will delay child bearing.