Preface

Cancer in pregnancy, the tragic collusion of the best time in a woman's life with her worst of times, creates a serious clinical and ethical challenge. The very drugs that can eradicate rapidly growing cancer may damage the rapidly growing embryo. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among women during their reproductive years, yet sources of concise data and guidance for the management of cancer in pregnancy are scarce. Cancer in Pregnancy and Lactation: The Motherisk Guide fills that resource gap as it contains updated data published over the past 5 years. Written by a dedicated group of experts in the fields of clinical pharmacology, maternal-fetal toxicology, and hemato-oncology, this Guide contains the evidence-based information physicians need to address complex issues of maternal diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and long-term impact on the unborn child. This book is complemented by the Motherisk On-line Cancer in Pregnancy Consultative Forum. The Forum provides clinicians with ready access to expert guidance and a place to share their clinical experiences. Operational since 2000, the on-line Consultative Forum is receiving questions from individuals throughout the world. Questions and comments to the Forum are reviewed and answered by Consortium of Cancer in Pregnancy Evidence (CCoPE) members. We invite you to visit the Forum at www.motherisk.org/cforum, review past questions and answers, and submit your own queries and comments. For as more and more clinicians engage in the informed dialog that this Guide and the Consultative Forum promote, their shared insights will help to generate new knowledge. We can think of no more effective way to advance the cause of science while also addressing immediate, life-threatening clinical issues.