Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Florez Laboratory Set to Launch Innovative Pregnancy and Lung Cancer Registry

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for women in the United States, and the rates of lung cancer in young women under the age of 50 are increasing.¹ Together with increasing maternal age at the time of first pregnancy, the likelihood of lung cancer during pregnancy has grown.² Although case studies of lung cancer during pregnancy exist, much of the data on cancer treatment during pregnancy is extrapolated from breast cancer and may not apply to the unique needs of patients with lung cancer.^2,3 More so, much of this data focuses on treatment with chemotherapy, and there is less data on the safety of immunotherapy during pregnancy.^2,4,5 Additionally, young patients with lung cancer are more likely to have targetable oncogenic drivers where targeted therapy is the best treatment option.6 With scarce data on the safety of targeted therapies during pregnancy, providers are often left in the dark about what the best treatment option is.^7,8 Data on the treatments and subsequent maternal and fetal outcomes of patients with lung cancer during pregnancy is vital to evidence-based decision-making for oncologists, and a lack of standardized clinical recommendations for these patients is a gap that needs to be filled.

These are the reasons why the Florez Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is launching the innovative International Pregnancy and Lung Cancer Registry.⁹ The registry aims to collect deidentified data from cases around the globe to provide insight into the incidence of pregnancy and lung cancer, genomic characteristics, treatments used, dosing, tolerability, the unique nature of lung cancer in patients who are pregnant, and maternal and fetal outcomes. Data from perioperative pregnancies will also be included in the registry for a more robust knowledge base. Retrospective data from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other relevant partners’ health care sites will also be added by the study team when available. The registry will disseminate updates every 4 to 6 months so providers globally can learn from the data being shared.

This is the first Institutional Review Board–approved REDCap database to collect global data about pregnancy and lung cancer. In the long term, registry data aims to contribute to the creation of standardized clinical recommendations for patients with lung cancer during pregnancy.

Clinicians interested in contributing a case to the registry are encouraged to contact younglungresearch@dfci.harvard.edu to add your case. You will be emailed a password-protected login to add your deidentified case information. We also request that you share information about the registry with other oncologists at work or through social media.

References

1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(3):209-249. doi:10.3322/caac.21660
2. Esposito, S, Tenconi, R, Preti V, Groppali, E, Principi, N. Chemotherapy against cancer during pregnancy: a systematic review on neonatal outcomes. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(38):e4899. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000004899
3. Mitrou S, Petrakis D, Fotopoulos G, Zarkavelis G, Pavlidis N. Lung cancer during pregnancy: a narrative review. J Adv Res. 2016;7(4):571-574. doi:10.1016/j.jare.2015.12.004
4. Ring, AE, Smith IE, Jones A, Shannon C, Galani E, Ellis, PA. Chemotherapy for breast cancer during pregnancy: an 18-year experience from five London teaching hospitals. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(18):4192-4197. doi:10.1200/JCO.2005.03.038
5. Borgers J, Heimovaara J, Cardonick E, et al. Immunotherapy for cancer treatment during pregnancy. 2021. Lancet Oncol. 22(12):e550-e561. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00525-8
6. Gitlitz BJ, Novello S, Vavalà T, et al. The genomics of young lung cancer: comprehensive tissue genomic analysis in patients under 40 with lung cancer. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2021;2(7):100194. doi:10.1016/j.jtocrr.2021.100194
7. Boskabadi SJ, Dashti A, Karevan S, Kargar-Soleimanabad S, Salehifar E. Clinical uses and safety concerns of tyrosine kinase inhibitors with a focus on novel drugs: a narrative review. J Oncol Pharm Pract. Published online May 12, 2023. doi:10.1177/10781552231174790
8. Ponticelli C, Moroni, G. Fetal toxicity of immunosuppressive drugs in pregnancy. J Clin Med. 2018;7(12):552. doi:10.3390/jcm7120552
9. Pregnancy and lung cancer: patient registration. RedCap. 2023. https://redcap.link/PLC-Registry