The Conundrum of Prematurity and Pregnancy Outcomes after Fertility Sparing Treatment Modalities for Early Stage Cervical Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Advances in modern medicine have allowed patients with early stage cervical cancer (stages Ia - IIai) to preserve their fertility with oncologic efficacy comparable to previous radical treatments. A variety of conservative-fertility sparing procedures, also known as Fertility Sparing Surgeries (FSS) have been proposed. The present review aimed to provide the current evidence on obstetric outcomes and the prematurity rates as well as to discuss the management modalities of these high-risk pregnancies. Our review of the literature included 3042 women with early cervical cancer, of whom 2838 underwent FSS (204 excluded for oncologic reasons). Almost half of these patients attempted to become pregnant and about two thirds of them achieved at least one pregnancy either spontaneously or with the help of Assisted Reproduction Technologies. Data revealed that 63.9% of these pregnancies resulted in live births, whereas 37.6% of them were preterm. The main cause of preterm births in this subpopulation is the postoperative cervical length restriction that consequently leads to cervical incompetence and ascending infections that eventually lead to (clinical or subclinical) chorioamnionitis. Radical operations such as ART, VRT and MIRT presented with higher prematurity rates. The lack of standardized protocols for the management of pregnancies after FSS precluded reaching to firm results with regards to the efficacy of them in achieving favourable obstetrical outcomes. Further large volume studies are warranted with the intent to acquire standardized guidelines for pregnancies achieved after FSS for early stage cervical cancer.

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