Pregnancy and Melanoma

Hi Natasha,

My Mom has melanoma so I am on the board reading and  learning as much as I can. I can across your post the other day and email my fertility doctor to ask him the association with melanoma and IVF. This is what he wrote back to me:

 

I have never heard of an association with melanoma. To my knowledge it is not a hormone-dependent tumor – so not really biologically plausible.

I hope this information helps you.

Wendy

Hi Natasha,

My Mom has melanoma so I am on the board reading and  learning as much as I can. I can across your post the other day and email my fertility doctor to ask him the association with melanoma and IVF. This is what he wrote back to me:

 

I have never heard of an association with melanoma. To my knowledge it is not a hormone-dependent tumor – so not really biologically plausible.

I hope this information helps you.

Wendy

Hi Natasha,

My Mom has melanoma so I am on the board reading and  learning as much as I can. I can across your post the other day and email my fertility doctor to ask him the association with melanoma and IVF. This is what he wrote back to me:

 

I have never heard of an association with melanoma. To my knowledge it is not a hormone-dependent tumor – so not really biologically plausible.

I hope this information helps you.

Wendy

Hi there,

My situation is a little different but I do have experience with pregnancy and melanoma. This may not be what you want to hear but it is my reality. My primary was diagnosed in 2002 and at the time I was 23 years old (right foot- one positive node- stage III). I had my daughter in 2005 with zero complications. Early 2011 I became pregnant with my son and at 19 weeks I started to get "lumps" one on my forearm, two on my abdomen and one on my shoulder. To say the least this sent me and my family on a rollercoaster from hell…I had just celebrated 9 years being NED and a reoccurrence was the furthest thing from my mind! Otherwise my pregnancy was going beautifully. We were counseled on termination but declined and we now have a healthy, beautiful six month old! My melanoma MD (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) didn't feel as though one caused the other but more a bad coincidence since many folks who are diagnosed with melanoma are of child bearing age. I was "officially" restaged 4 weeks after delivery (I had a scheduled section at 34 weeks to expedite things) and the placenta was thoroughly tested with no evidence of melanoma. A huge blessing! Since my son was premature he did have difficultly with respiratory distress and was in the NICU for about 3 weeks. My family support has been tremendous but times have been really, really challenging, emotionally and physically. 

–Amy

Fighting Mama

Hi there,

My situation is a little different but I do have experience with pregnancy and melanoma. This may not be what you want to hear but it is my reality. My primary was diagnosed in 2002 and at the time I was 23 years old (right foot- one positive node- stage III). I had my daughter in 2005 with zero complications. Early 2011 I became pregnant with my son and at 19 weeks I started to get "lumps" one on my forearm, two on my abdomen and one on my shoulder. To say the least this sent me and my family on a rollercoaster from hell…I had just celebrated 9 years being NED and a reoccurrence was the furthest thing from my mind! Otherwise my pregnancy was going beautifully. We were counseled on termination but declined and we now have a healthy, beautiful six month old! My melanoma MD (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) didn't feel as though one caused the other but more a bad coincidence since many folks who are diagnosed with melanoma are of child bearing age. I was "officially" restaged 4 weeks after delivery (I had a scheduled section at 34 weeks to expedite things) and the placenta was thoroughly tested with no evidence of melanoma. A huge blessing! Since my son was premature he did have difficultly with respiratory distress and was in the NICU for about 3 weeks. My family support has been tremendous but times have been really, really challenging, emotionally and physically. 

–Amy

Fighting Mama

Hi there,

My situation is a little different but I do have experience with pregnancy and melanoma. This may not be what you want to hear but it is my reality. My primary was diagnosed in 2002 and at the time I was 23 years old (right foot- one positive node- stage III). I had my daughter in 2005 with zero complications. Early 2011 I became pregnant with my son and at 19 weeks I started to get "lumps" one on my forearm, two on my abdomen and one on my shoulder. To say the least this sent me and my family on a rollercoaster from hell…I had just celebrated 9 years being NED and a reoccurrence was the furthest thing from my mind! Otherwise my pregnancy was going beautifully. We were counseled on termination but declined and we now have a healthy, beautiful six month old! My melanoma MD (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) didn't feel as though one caused the other but more a bad coincidence since many folks who are diagnosed with melanoma are of child bearing age. I was "officially" restaged 4 weeks after delivery (I had a scheduled section at 34 weeks to expedite things) and the placenta was thoroughly tested with no evidence of melanoma. A huge blessing! Since my son was premature he did have difficultly with respiratory distress and was in the NICU for about 3 weeks. My family support has been tremendous but times have been really, really challenging, emotionally and physically. 

–Amy

Fighting Mama

2 doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told me to wait 2 years after my initial diagnosis–I'm stage III A. They told me that a lot of people differ on opinions regarding melanoma & pregnancy, but they personally believe that pregnancy does not cause your melanoma to spread. My surgeon once told me that she thinks a lot of people find their primary melanoma's during pregnancy because they are noticing other skin changes that happen with pregnancy. The main issue in their eyes is that the ability to treat melanoma during pregnancy. Best wishes to you!

2 doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told me to wait 2 years after my initial diagnosis–I'm stage III A. They told me that a lot of people differ on opinions regarding melanoma & pregnancy, but they personally believe that pregnancy does not cause your melanoma to spread. My surgeon once told me that she thinks a lot of people find their primary melanoma's during pregnancy because they are noticing other skin changes that happen with pregnancy. The main issue in their eyes is that the ability to treat melanoma during pregnancy. Best wishes to you!

2 doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told me to wait 2 years after my initial diagnosis–I'm stage III A. They told me that a lot of people differ on opinions regarding melanoma & pregnancy, but they personally believe that pregnancy does not cause your melanoma to spread. My surgeon once told me that she thinks a lot of people find their primary melanoma's during pregnancy because they are noticing other skin changes that happen with pregnancy. The main issue in their eyes is that the ability to treat melanoma during pregnancy. Best wishes to you!

Hi
I had my first melanoma before my pregnancy and it was In situ. Nothing was mentioned to me about the risks of pregnancy and melanoma, and I didn’t research the topic at all because my melanoma was caught so early. I just put it behind me and a while later fell pregnant. 3 months after the birth my derm found another melanoma, and at that point she told me that it was probably due to the pregnancy. Her explanation was the immunosuppressed state of pregnancy, that she said is thought to be a cause. I then had my third melanoma a few month later and this was deeper than the first two. At this point I was sent to an oncologist who told me that the second and third melanomas were probably pregnancy related since they occurred within a year of pregnancy. He said that the body produces melanin while pregnant and the skin becomes unstable.

To wrap up they said don’t fall pregnant until you have been melanoma free for at least 2 years from the 3rd melanoma, if you don’t get more! I probably will given that I’ve had 3 in 2 yrs, but I’m hoping not. The oncologist also told me not to take birth control as did my gynae, who happens to an oncologist himself. When my derm and I spoke about harvesting eggs and looking for a surrogate as an alternative to me carrying a second baby, she seemed overly cautious about the idea, saying that the hormonal therapies required could once again result in more melanomas, even though melanoma is thought not to be a hormonal cancer.

This is just my experience when questioning my own doctors on the topic. Hope it gives you some insight.

My opinion is that you should go ahead and try for a baby and just have full body checks. My doctors even told me that if I’m adamant about having another they will put me under strict surveillance and hopefully catch new primary melanomas as early as possible.

Hi
I had my first melanoma before my pregnancy and it was In situ. Nothing was mentioned to me about the risks of pregnancy and melanoma, and I didn’t research the topic at all because my melanoma was caught so early. I just put it behind me and a while later fell pregnant. 3 months after the birth my derm found another melanoma, and at that point she told me that it was probably due to the pregnancy. Her explanation was the immunosuppressed state of pregnancy, that she said is thought to be a cause. I then had my third melanoma a few month later and this was deeper than the first two. At this point I was sent to an oncologist who told me that the second and third melanomas were probably pregnancy related since they occurred within a year of pregnancy. He said that the body produces melanin while pregnant and the skin becomes unstable.

To wrap up they said don’t fall pregnant until you have been melanoma free for at least 2 years from the 3rd melanoma, if you don’t get more! I probably will given that I’ve had 3 in 2 yrs, but I’m hoping not. The oncologist also told me not to take birth control as did my gynae, who happens to an oncologist himself. When my derm and I spoke about harvesting eggs and looking for a surrogate as an alternative to me carrying a second baby, she seemed overly cautious about the idea, saying that the hormonal therapies required could once again result in more melanomas, even though melanoma is thought not to be a hormonal cancer.

This is just my experience when questioning my own doctors on the topic. Hope it gives you some insight.

My opinion is that you should go ahead and try for a baby and just have full body checks. My doctors even told me that if I’m adamant about having another they will put me under strict surveillance and hopefully catch new primary melanomas as early as possible.

Hi
I had my first melanoma before my pregnancy and it was In situ. Nothing was mentioned to me about the risks of pregnancy and melanoma, and I didn’t research the topic at all because my melanoma was caught so early. I just put it behind me and a while later fell pregnant. 3 months after the birth my derm found another melanoma, and at that point she told me that it was probably due to the pregnancy. Her explanation was the immunosuppressed state of pregnancy, that she said is thought to be a cause. I then had my third melanoma a few month later and this was deeper than the first two. At this point I was sent to an oncologist who told me that the second and third melanomas were probably pregnancy related since they occurred within a year of pregnancy. He said that the body produces melanin while pregnant and the skin becomes unstable.

To wrap up they said don’t fall pregnant until you have been melanoma free for at least 2 years from the 3rd melanoma, if you don’t get more! I probably will given that I’ve had 3 in 2 yrs, but I’m hoping not. The oncologist also told me not to take birth control as did my gynae, who happens to an oncologist himself. When my derm and I spoke about harvesting eggs and looking for a surrogate as an alternative to me carrying a second baby, she seemed overly cautious about the idea, saying that the hormonal therapies required could once again result in more melanomas, even though melanoma is thought not to be a hormonal cancer.

This is just my experience when questioning my own doctors on the topic. Hope it gives you some insight.

My opinion is that you should go ahead and try for a baby and just have full body checks. My doctors even told me that if I’m adamant about having another they will put me under strict surveillance and hopefully catch new primary melanomas as early as possible.