Contemporary Oncology
eISSN: 1897-4309
ISSN: 1428-2526
Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia
Current issue Archive Manuscripts accepted About the journal Supplements Addendum Special Issues Editorial board Reviewers Abstracting and indexing Subscription Contact Instructions for authors Publication charge Ethical standards and procedures
Editorial System
Submit your Manuscript
SCImago Journal & Country Rank
Share:
Share:
Review paper

When two lives intersect: melanoma in pregnancy: mechanisms, risks, and management strategies

Svetoslava Troyanova Slavkova
1
,
Dimitar Slavkov
1

  1. Helios Vogtland Klinikum Plauen, Plauen, Germany
Contemp Oncol (Pozn) 2026; 30 (1)
Online publish date: 2026/02/23
Article file
- When two lives.pdf  [0.07 MB]
Get citation
 
PlumX metrics:
 
1. Davidson TM, Hieken TJ, Glasgow AE, Habermann EB, Yan Y. Pregnancy-associated melanoma: characteristics and outcomes from 2002 to 2020. Melanoma Res 2024; 34: 175-181.
2. Still R, Brennecke S. Melanoma in pregnancy. Obstet Med. 2017; 10: 107-112.
3. Lens M, Bataille V. Melanoma in relation to reproductive and hormonal factors in women: current review on controversial issues. Cancer Causes Control 2008; 19: 437-442.
4. Zelin E, Conforti C, Giuffrida R, Deinlein T, di Meo N, Zalaudek I. Melanoma in pregnancy: certainties unborn. Melanoma Manag 2020; 7: MMT48. 
5. Andersson TM, Johansson AL, Fredriksson I, Lambe M. Cancer during pregnancy and the postpartum period: a population-based study. Cancer 2015; 121: 2072-2077. 
6. Cottreau CM, Dashevsky I, Andrade SE, Li DK, Nekhlyudov L, Raebel MA, et al. Pregnancy-associated cancer: A U.S. population-based study. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2019; 28: 250-257.
7. Prithviraj P, Anaka M, McKeown SJ, Permezel M, Walkiewicz M, Cebon J, et al. Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A links pregnancy and melanoma progression by promoting cellular migration and invasion. Oncotarget 2015; 6: 15953-15965.
8. Lundberg FE, Stensheim H, Ullenhag GJ, Milerad Sahlgren H, Lindemann K, Fredriksson I, et al. Risk factors for the increasing incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer in Sweden – a population-based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2024; 103: 669-683. 
9. Lens MB, Rosdahl I, Ahlbom A, Farahmand BY, Synnerstad I, Boeryd B, et al. Effect of pregnancy on survival in women with cutaneous malignant melanoma. J Clin Oncol 2004; 22) :4369-4375. 
10. Martires KJ, Stein JA, Grant-Kels JM, Driscoll MS. Meta-analysis concerning mortality for pregnancy-associated melanoma. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2016; 30: e107-e108. 
11. Carter TJ, George C, Harwood C, Nathan P. Melanoma in pregnancy: diagnosis and management in early-stage and advanced disease. Eur J Cancer 2022; 166: 240-253.
12. Cordeiro E, Gervais MK, Shah PS, Look Hong NJ, Wright FC. Sentinel lymph node biopsy in thin cutaneous melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Surg Oncol 2016; 23: 4178-4188.
13. Richards KA, Stasko T. Dermatologic surgery and the pregnant patient. Dermatol Surg 2002; 28: 248-256.
14. Garg AM, Mysore V. Dermatologic and cosmetic procedures in pregnancy. J Cutan Aesthet Surg 2022; 15: 108-117.
15. Fisher SC, Siag K, Howley MM, van Zutphen AR, Reefhuis J, Browne ML, et al. National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal surgery and anesthesia during pregnancy and risk of birth defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2011. Birth Defects Res 2020; 112: 162-174.
16. Ribero S, Longo C, Dika E, Fortes C, Pasquali S, Nagore E, et al. Pregnancy and melanoma: a European-wide survey to assess current management and a critical literature overview. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2017; 31: 65-69. 
17. Lorenzi E, Simonelli M, Persico P, Dipasquale A, Santoro A. Risks of molecular targeted therapies to fertility and safety during pregnancy: a review of current knowledge and future needs. Expert Opin Drug Saf 2021; 20: 503-521.
18. Zhang YH, Sun HX. Immune checkpoint molecules in pregnancy: focus on regulatory T cells. Eur J Immunol 2020; 50: 160-169.
19. Hollander S, Geron V, Rhodin KE, Beasley GM. Adjuvant therapy for melanoma. Surg Clin North Am 2025; 105: 555-568.
20. Dökmetaş M, Muğlu H, Özcan E, Kuvvet BB, Helvacı K, Kalacı E, et al. Endocrine adverse events in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a comprehensive analysis. Medicina (Kaunas) 2025; 61: 123.
21. Alexander A, Samlowski WE, Grossman D, Bruggers CS, Harris RM, Zone JJ, et al. Metastatic melanoma in pregnancy: risk of transplacental metastases in the infant. J Clin Oncol 2003; 21: 2179-2186. 
22. Dillman RO, Vandermolen LA, Barth NM, Bransford KJ. Malignant melanoma and pregnancy ten questions. West J Med 1996; 164: 156-161.
23. Masilla S, Fionda B, Placidi E, Pagliara MM, Viscido A, Blasi MA, et al. Shared care planning for a pregnant patient with uveal melanoma treated with interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy). Med Morale 2024; 73: 227-238.
24. Wu HT, Dong L, Zhang RH, Zhou WD, Li HY, Wei WB, et al. Pregnancy and survival-related outcomes of uveal melanoma treated with brachytherapy in women of reproductive age. BMC Ophthalmol 2024; 24: 416.
25. Zagouri F, Dimitrakakis C, Marinopoulos S, Tsigginou A, Dimopoulos MA. Cancer in pregnancy: disentangling treatment modalities. ESMO Open 2016; 1: e000016.
26. Linkeviciute A, Canario R, Peccatori FA, Dierickx K. Caring for Pregnant patients with cancer: a framework for ethical and patient- centred care. Cancers 2024; 16: 455.
Copyright: © 2026 Termedia Sp. z o. o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
RG
Quick links
© 2026 Termedia Sp. z o.o.
Developed by Termedia.