Skin Cancer Deadlier During Pregnancy: Study

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A US study shows that pregnant women diagnosed with skin cancer suffer a higher risk of melanomas than those women who are not pregnant.

Skin cancer is already considered to be among the deadliest diseases in the world. But pregnant women diagnosed with melanoma face higher chances of recurring disease even after treatment. They face higher risks of the tumor spreading to other tissues and organs. Also, they are five times likely to die compared to those who are not pregnant.

A US study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology observed a total of 462 women who are 49 years old or younger and who are diagnosed with melanoma between 1988 and 2012. Those women who had a follow-up of fewer than two years were excluded in the study.

According to Huffington Post, 41 out of the 462 women had been diagnosed with melanoma during their pregnancy. Compared to the group of melanoma patients who were not pregnant when they were diagnosed with melanoma, this group is five times likely to end up dying. Twenty percent of this group died from skin cancer while only 10 percent of the other group died from melanoma.

Reuters reported that 12.5 percent of the women diagnosed with melanoma while they were pregnant had their cancer returned after treatment. It is a lot higher compared to just 1.4 percent of the other group.

In the group of women diagnosed with melanoma during pregnancy, 25 percent were diagnosed with metastasis as well. On the other hand, only 12.7 percent of the other group got metastasis.

Considering the result of the study, it can easily be told that those who have been diagnosed with melanoma during pregnancy are really at a higher risk compared to those who were not pregnant while they were diagnosed.

The study was not able to determine the connection between pregnancy and higher risk melanoma. However, it is suspected that the hormonal changes that occur during women's pregnancy might have been the missing piece in the puzzle.

The authors also noted that the participants in their study might not be the perfect representative of women diagnosed with melanoma because they are all patients at one medical center, which is known to focus more on complex cases. Therefore, the result is not final. Nonetheless, it still calls for further studies on pregnancy and melanoma.