Sahra Ali, MD from Queen’s Centre Castle Hill Hospital, Hull, UK gives an overivew of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in pregnancy and the guidance that is available for such cases. According to Dr Ali, AML in pregnancy is a great challenge as the wellbeing of both the mother and the fetus has to be considered. The guidance for acute leukemia in pregnancy can be applied to other hematological and non-hematological malignancies and covers chemotherapy administration, management of sepsis and timing as well as type of delivery. According to Dr Ali, chemotherapy can be adminstered relatively safely during the second and third trimester. It is, however, associated with malformations, prematurity and death. It is not possible to adminster chemotherapy during the first trimester. Further, prompt management of sepsis can prevent maternal and fetal death. Further, the timing of delivery is crucial, i.e. when the mother is not neutropenic.
Recorded at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the British Society of Haematology (BSH) and International Society of Hematology (ISH) held in Glasgow, Scotland.