The pregnancy and miscarriage of a woman lead to the diagnosis of cancer at 32 years old

Christine Schozer Farr, 34, works as senior marketing director at NBC News. Shortly after her marriage, she got pregnant but made a miscarriage, which happens in up to 20 % of known pregnancies. She then developed rare cancer linked to her pregnancy.

The three years that have passed since have been complicated, painful and filled with challenges, and its career towards parenting is still in progress. She shares her story to help other women and families who could experience a similar situation and offer them knowledge and support.

After having married in June 2021, I became pregnant in November of the same year, when I was 30 years old. We were excited and we announced to my family at seven weeks, following a positive screening, where we saw a heartbeat at ultrasound. Unfortunately, when I returned to the doctor after Christmas, there was no longer a heartbeat at eight weeks: I had made a miscarriage.

I underwent two dilations and curetages, also called D&C. The doctors thought they had removed all the fabrics and told me that after returning from my menstrual cycle, my husband and I could try to fall pregnant.

My obstetrician-gynecologist continued to check my blood tests, but the levels of my HCG, a hormone secreted by the placenta during pregnancy, remained high, despite the fact that I was no longer pregnant. My menstrual cycle has never returned either. My doctor felt worried about these results and continued to watch him closely.

In March 2022, my blood tests still detected HCG, then my doctor decided to prescribe an ultrasound, which revealed a mass in my uterus. They determined that I had a partial molar pregnancy, when two sperm fertilize an egg, which leads to too much chromosomes, as the Cleveland clinic explains. During a partial molar pregnancy, the embryo is formed badly or does not develop at all and ends with a miscarriage.

Normally, a D&C is enough to treat a molar pregnancy, but in my case, the embryo has rooted in the wall of my uterus and has turned into a mass, now my high levels of HCG. Several doctors have described this discovery as “interesting”, which is never a word you would like to hear about your health. Immediately, my obstetrician-gynecologist told me to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where I met my oncologist, Dr. Ying Liu.

I learned that I suffered from a gestational trophoblastic disease, a rare disease in which tumors appear during pregnancy and can become cancerous. My presentation was unusual, but Dr. Liu treated me with low doses of chemotherapy to kill the cells that developed. One week out of two in April and May 2022, I received a treatment.

Fortunately, it seemed to work. Finally, my HCG levels came back to zero and doctors thought they had successfully treated my gestational trophoblastic disease. During the following six months, they watched me and I took a contraceptive method – I could not get pregnant right away because of the recent series of chemotherapy.

At the end of the follow -up period, in November 2022, my doctor made scanners of my uterus. There was a crust where the mass had formed, but everything else was clear and they told us that we could try to start our family again.

After trying for five months without any progress, we became frustrated and, in the summer of 2023, we continued in vitro fertilization.

Before undergoing an embryo transfer, doctors discovered that scar fabric had developed in my uterus and was to be cleaned using a standard procedure called hysteroscopy, which they did in September 2023. Even if everything seemed normal, my doctor sent the caitor to biop ago. The results revealed that I had what are called atypical nodules of the placental site.

I quickly understood how serious my condition was. Dr. Liu called me when I was going to a wedding and told me that the nodules were linked to a very dangerous type of cancer called epithelioid (ETT) trophoblastic tumor. It could not determine if I had an etch, but it seemed possible that the cells turn into ETT, and my best option was to treat it with a hysterectomy, when the uterus is removed surgically.

At first, I tried to hold back, then melted tears into the car. I was at risk of losing my fertility, and it is a pill that is difficult to swallow. But I also realized that my life was more important than wearing a baby, so I accepted a hysterectomy. I asked for another series of egg samples before undergoing my hysterectomy in December 2023. When the pathology report arrived, he confirmed that I had a stadium 1.

It was crazy because I was both diagnosed with cancer and declared without cancer during this one call. But I felt happy to have taken proactive measures concerning my health and to have accepted a hysterectomy, even if it meant that I will not be able to carry my own baby. Sometimes I still can’t believe that being pregnant led me to develop cancer.

How my pregnancy gave me cancer

Gestational trophoblastic disease occurs when tumors develop during pregnancy, explains Dr. Liu. Because a partial molar pregnancy is not viable, it is considered a tumor and a form of gestational trophoblastic disease. Although a partial molar pregnancy is not cancerous, doctors must remove it with a D&C and, in rare cases, partial molar pregnancies can evolve in cancer.

For example, my partial molar pregnancy led me to develop atypical nodules at the placental site (APSN) – which knew my Ob -Gyn and Dr. Liu, required a more in -depth and serious investigation.

“The APSN is not considered cancerous, but it is considered as an atypical and suspect discovery because it is often associated with ETT, epithelial trophoblastic tumors”, explains Liu, gynecological medical and clinical geneticist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

When my doctors examined my biopsy for the first time, they could not say if there was ETT, so the only way to know with certainty was to make a hysterectomy.

ETTs “can be very aggressive” and hide in the body for years, explains Dr. Liu.

“We had cases of patients whose pregnancy dates back five, ten, even twenty years and who, later, presented an ett which had already spread throughout the body. Once propagated, it is very difficult to treat, ”she adds.

This is why it is important to detect it early and remove the uterus to manage this type of cancer. Even if ETTs are aggressive, they are rare.

“The most important thing to remember about these diseases is that they exist, but that they are very rare,” explains Dr. Liu. “Each story is individual and really requires treatment specializing in an experienced center. »»

If doctors detect the ETT early and practice hysterectomy, the risk of recurrence is low.

Although it is possible that the ett will reappear, it is less likely in my case because it was detected so early. I am always closely monitored, with regular blood tests and annual imaging to be careful and assured of my health.

Most people with ETT are under surveillance for years to be sure “that cancer disappears,” said Dr. Liu.

Help others feel less alone

Throughout this trip, I was trying to look for stories or information about these diseases, and I found little about them outside medical journals. It motivated me to share my story.

I hope that others will not feel so alone or frightened if they learn that they have a partial molar or molar pregnancy, a gestational trophoblastic disease or an ett, because they can read my experience and know that there are Solutions.

Many women face problems caused by pregnancy with many different stages, whether design, IVF, during pregnancy or after childbirth, which are all physically and mentally exhausting. I hope my story will be added to the current conversation on reproductive rights and women’s health care.

Since I was pregnant, my life looks like roller coaster. I went from excitement to mourn my miscarriage. I remember watching my husband after learning the miscarriage, feeling shocked and devastated.

However, I tried to be positive even during D&C, hoping that we could start a family. But then the problems continued to happen. At one point, I knew at the bottom of me that melting my family would not take place as planned. In my case, I had to choose my life first so that one day I can be there for our children. In a way, we are lucky. I have the support of my family and friends, as well as phenomenal doctors such as my obstetrician-gynecologist, my fertility doctor and Dr. Liu, who accompanied me throughout the process.

I am disappointed not to be able to carry out a pregnancy in the long term, and it can be difficult to see other pregnant women. But now, my husband and I are on his way to maternity of substitution, and there is hope. It is as if, after all that we have experienced, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.