Abstract

AN UNEVENTFUL PREGNANCY AND DELIVERY IN A CASE WITH CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA

Bhawana Tiwary*, Hemali Heidi Sinha and Vivek Kr. Pandey

Abstract

Background: The concomitant occurrence of pregnancy and chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML) is uncommon. The management of CML during pregnancy poses a therapeutic dilemma because of the potential teratogenic effect of therapy. Several types of treatment have been used for CML during pregnancy including cytotoxic drugs, alpha interferon and leukapheresis. Case Report: We describe the successful management of a 23 years old woman in her pregnancy with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase, who was on treatment with imatinib which was stopped at 8 weeks of pregnancy. Until she completed full term of pregnancy she was on interferon injection. The patient had a normal vaginal delivery and gave birth to a healthy 3.5 kg female baby at 39 weeks of gestation. Conclusion: Management of patients with CML during pregnancy is mandatory. A totally safe agent for the treatment of CML during pregnancy remains to be established. This case suggests that interferon alpha remains one of the safest agents to be used in CML during pregnancy. The overall safety of interferon-α to fetus needs more studies.

Keywords: interferon-?, chronic myeloid leukemia, imatinib, pregnancy.