title: Management of head and neck tumours during pregnancy: case report and literature review.
abstract: Ethical dilemmas arise in managing head and neck cancers during pregnancy. The timing of treatment is an important determinant on foetal wellbeing. Diagnostic and treatment modalities may harm the foetus, while delaying or choosing suboptimal treatment in order to preserve foetal health may worsen maternal outcome. A multidisciplinary approach should be adopted to enable parents and clinicians to make the best clinical decision. We report on two cases. Case 1 is a 34-year-old female who presented with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue at 29 weeks' gestation. Partial glossectomy, selective neck dissection and posterior tibial flap reconstruction was performed at 31 weeks. She underwent induction and early delivery at 38 weeks prior to receiving radiotherapy. Case 2 is a 36-year-old female who presented with carcinoma of the cervical oesophagus complicated by tracheal invasion, thyroid and cervical lymph node metastasis at 13 weeks' gestation. Pregnancy was terminated at 16 weeks. She received a course of neoadjuvant chemoirradiation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong SAR. vlychow@gmail.com
authors.forename: Velda Ling Yu
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Jimmy Yu Wai
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Raymond Wai Man
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: William Ignace
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000328:Adult; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000628:therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000628:therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007751:Labor, Induced; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000628:therapy*; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy