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This study aimed to analyze disease presentation, management, and oncological outcomes of patients diagnosed with peripartum colorectal cancer (CRC). Retrospective cohort study of all consecutive women of childbearing age (18–45 years) between 2002 and 2014 diagnosed with CRC adenocarcinoma at a tertiary academic institution. Patients who experienced pregnancy within 12 months of their diagnosis (peripartum period, group 1) were compared to the remaining patients of the cohort (group 2). Overall survival (OS) was compared between the two groups through Kaplan-Meier estimates. Out of 555 consecutive women with a mean age of 37.8 + 6 years, 31 (5.6%) were diagnosed with CRC in the peripartum period. Of these, all patients were symptomatic during pregnancy due to bleeding, abdominal pain, or constipation; however, only 11 CRC (35.5%) were diagnosed during pregnancy, 1 (3.2%) during C section, and the remaining (61.3%) postpartum. TNM stage at presentation was I in 6 patients (19.4%), II in 4 patients (13.9%), III in 8 patients (25.8%), and IV in 13 patients (41.9%). Surgical resection was performed in 23 patients (74.2%): 2 while pregnant, 2 at the time of C section, and the remainder postpartum. Across all stages, OS was 95% at 1 year and 62% at 5 years and did not differ between the two comparative groups (p = 0.16). A suspicious attitude towards cancer-related symptoms during pregnancy is crucial to prevent delayed evaluation for CRC.

BackgroundPeripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a serious cardiac disorder occurring late in pregnancy or early in the postpartum period. We examined associations between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP: preeclampsia and gestational hypertension) and PPCM, accounting for other pregnancy-related risk factors for PPCM.MethodsUsing nationwide Danish register data, we constructed a cohort of all women with ≥1 live birth or stillbirth in Denmark between 1978 and 2012. Using log-linear binomial regression and generalized estimating equations, we estimated risk ratios (RRs) for PPCM associated with HDP of varying severity.ResultsIn a cohort of 1,088,063 women with 2,078,822 eligible pregnancies, 126 women developed PPCM (39 in connection with an HDP-complicated pregnancy). The risks of PPCM were significantly higher in women with HDP-complicated pregnancies than in women with normotensive pregnancies (severe preeclampsia, RR 21.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 12.0-37.4; moderate preeclampsia, RR 10.2, 95% CI 6.18-16.9; gestational hypertension, RR 5.16, 95% CI 2.11-12.6). The RRs for moderate preeclampsia and gestational hypertension were not significantly different from one another (p = 0.18); the RR for severe preeclampsia was significantly different from the RR for moderate preeclampsia and gestational hypertension combined (p = 0.02).ConclusionsAlthough 70% of PPCM occurred in women with normotensive pregnancies, HDPs were associated with substantial increases in PPCM risk that depended on HDP severity. The heart's capacity to adapt to a normal pregnancy may be exceeded in some women already susceptible to cardiac insult, contributing to PPCM. HDPs, severe preeclampsia in particular, probably represent an additional cardiac stressor during pregnancy.