CARING STUDY

‘Increasing numbers of women are being diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy and this has been associated with the sustained global trend to delay conception in developed nations including in the United Kingdom (UK).

Estimates of the incidence of cancer during pregnancy are challenging as not all pregnancies result in live births and because health registries do not routinely combine oncological and obstetric data. However, conservative estimates suggest incidence rates for cancer during pregnancy of 17 per 100,000 live births or 25-27 per 100,000 pregnancies. In the UK, this equates to an estimated 2 new cases per day.

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Internationally research is gaining momentum in the field of cancer in pregnancy, however, there is an absence of UK data. The main source of UK data to date is limited to an analysis by Public Health England. There is currently no routine clinical data collection in the UK. As such, there is limited data about routes to and the timing of cancer diagnosis in relation to gestation or delivery. There is also very limited data relating to patient demographics, treatment decisions, healthcare interventions (both cancer and maternity) or outcomes for mothers and neonates.

This project aims to provide the UK’s first comprehensive assessment of cancer during pregnancy in women aged 16 years (where feasible) and older, including their oncological care and clinical outcomes. We have chosen to focus on diagnoses during pregnancy in a 5 year period between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2020.