Cancer of any kind is found in an estimated one in 1,000 pregnancies, making it relatively rare. But the incidence of cancer in pregnant women appears to be on the rise. The good news is that new advances in medicine can allow doctors to treat the woman without harming the fetus.
“Thirty years ago, there was almost no information on how children with prenatal exposure to chemotherapy turned out,” says Elyce H. Cardonick, MD, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at Cooper. “Today, we know that it’s relatively safe after the first trimester.”