Targeted and immunotherapy drugs and pregnancy
Breast cancer
Women with breast cancer who need trastuzumab will have it after the baby is born. During pregnancy, trastuzumab can reduce the amount of fluid around the baby.
Lymphoma
Rituximab is a targeted therapy drug used to treat lymphoma. Recent research has looked at pregnant women who had rituximab to treat lymphoma. The treatment did not seem to cause any problems for the baby. Your specialist may still want to wait until after the baby is born if you need to have rituximab.
Chronic myeloid leukaemia
Imatinib (Glivec®) is a targeted therapy drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). It is not usually given during pregnancy. Other drugs that are similar to imatinib are also usually avoided.
Interferon alpha is an immunotherapy drug that can be given during pregnancy, to treat women with CML.
Melanoma
Targeted therapy and immunotherapy drugs may be used to treat advanced melanoma. They may also be used to treat melanoma that has spread to nearby lymph nodes, to try to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy drugs are not given during pregnancy.
However, an immunotherapy drug called interferon alpha that can be given during pregnancy. It can help treat advanced melanoma until after the birth. You can then start taking targeted or immunotherapy drug treatment that is usually used for advanced melanoma.
Related pages
This information was produced in partnership with Mummy's Star.
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