A national network for the management of pregnancy-associated cancers: the CALG Network

With an incidence ranging from 0.07 to 0.1%, the occurrence of a malignant tumour during pregnancy is a rare event. Such tumours are mainly breast tumours, gynaecological tumours, skin tumours, leukaemias and lymphomas. For the clinician who encounters one of these conditions, multiple questions raise: which treatments may be considered? Should the therapeutic doses and modalities of administration be modified? In response to the complexity of these clinical situations and the need for epidemiological, pharmacological, and biological data, a national coordinating unit for the management of patients with pregnancy-associated cancer will be created under the authority of the CNGOF (National College of French Gynaecologists and Obstetricians). This organization will include several teams involved over the national territory so as to structure at a national scale the management of affected patients. The goals are to homogenate and optimize patients' management and to collect epidemiological and pharmacological data. Multidisciplinary consultation meetings will be organized, and guidelines for the management of pregnancy-associated tumours will be designed, validated and addressed. In addition, biological and epidemiological research projects on pregnancy-associated cancers will be supported by this project, and virtual serum and tumour banks will be created to study the pharmacology of cytotoxic drugs used in pregnant women.