Pregnancy Outcomes in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Single Center Experience

Fertility and pregnancy in chronic myeloid leukemia: real-world experience from an Indian tertiary care institution

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) management during pregnancy is challenging. In this retrospective study, hospital records of CML patients treated between 2000 and 2021 were screened to identify patients who tried to conceive/got pregnant (planned and unplanned) on TKIs (tyrosine kinase inhibitors)/were pregnant at CML onset/fathered a child. We found ninety-three pregnancies involving thirty-three women and thirty-eight men, and they were analyzed for the pregnancy outcomes and the strategies utilized for CML management during pregnancy and the pre-conception period. There were two women and four men with primary infertility and five women with secondary infertility. TKIs were discontinued before conception in four planned pregnancies and at the time of recognition of pregnancy in unplanned pregnancies (n = 21). Unplanned pregnancy outcomes were two miscarriages, eight elective terminations, and eleven live births. Planned pregnancies led to four healthy babies. Outcomes of pregnancies at CML onset (n = 17) were six live births, one stillbirth, five elective terminations, and five abortions. Except for one child with congenital micro-ophthalmia, no other child born to the women on TKI had any malformations. Thirty-eight men fathered 51 healthy children. All but two patients (one planned and one unplanned pregnancy) lost their hematological responses during pregnancy and gained their previous best response after restarting TKI. In women who were pregnant at CML onset, complete cytological remission (CCYR) was achieved between 7 and 24 months (median:14 months) after starting TKI. During pregnancy, intermittent hydroxyurea ± TKI (in the second and third trimesters) was used to keep WBCs less than 30,000/mm3. Outcomes of pregnancies in CML patients can be optimized with our approach. TKIs (Imatinib and Nilotinib) can be safely used in the second and third trimesters. Delayed initiation or interruption of TKI during pregnancy does not negatively affect response to TKIs.

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and Pregnancy: When Dreams Meet Reality. State of the Art, Management and Outcome of 41 Cases, Nilotinib Placental Transfer

The overwhelming success of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients has opened a discussion among medical practitioners and the lay public on the real possibility of pregnancy and conception in females and males with CML. In the past 10 years this subject has acquired growing interest in the scientific community and specific knowledge has been obtained “from bench to bedside”. Embryological, pharmacological, and pathophysiological studies have merged with worldwide patient databases to provide a roadmap to a successful pregnancy and birth in CML patients. Male conception does not seem to be affected by TKI therapy, since this class of drugs is neither genotoxic nor mutagenic, however, caution should be used specially with newer drugs for which little or no data are available. In contrast, female patients should avoid TKI therapy specifically during the embryonic stage of organogenesis (5–12 weeks) because TKIs can be teratogenic. In the last 15 years, 41 pregnancies have been followed in our center. A total of 11 male conceptions and 30 female pregnancies are described. TKI treatment was generally terminated as soon as the pregnancy was discovered (3–5 weeks), to avoid exposure during embryonic period and to reduce the risk of needing treatment in the first trimester. Eleven pregnancies were treated with interferon, imatinib or nilotinib during gestation. Nilotinib plasma levels in cord blood and maternal blood at delivery were studied in 2 patients and reduced or absent placental crossing of nilotinib was observed. All of the patients were managed by a multidisciplinary team of physicians with obligatory hematological and obgyn consultations. This work provides an update on the state of the art and detailed description of pregnancy management and outcomes in CML patients.

Fertility considerations in targeted biologic therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a review

PURPOSE

To review the impact of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) on fertility in men and women, embryo development, and early pregnancy, and discuss considerations for fertility preservation in patients taking TKIs.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search using the PubMed database was performed through February 2021 to evaluate the current literature on imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, and bosutinib as it relates to fertility and reproduction. Published case series were analyzed for pregnancy outcomes.

RESULTS

TKIs adversely affect oocyte and sperm maturation, gonadal function, and overall fertility potential in a self-limited manner. There are insufficient studies regarding long-term consequences on fertility after discontinuation of TKIs. A total of 396 women and 236 men were on a first- or second-generation TKI at the time of conception. Of the women with detailed pregnancy and delivery outcomes (n = 361), 51% (186/361) resulted in a term birth of a normal infant, 4.3% (16/361) of pregnancies had a pregnancy complication, and 5% (20/361) of pregnancies resulted in the live birth of an infant with a congenital anomaly. About 22% of pregnant women (87/396) elected to undergo a termination of pregnancy, while 16% (63/396) of pregnancies ended in a spontaneous abortion. In contrast, of the 236 men, 87% conceived pregnancies which resulted in term deliveries of normal infants. Elective terminations, miscarriage rate, pregnancy complication rate, and incidence of a congenital malformation were all less than those seen in females (4%, 3%, 2%, and 2.5%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Women should be advised to avoid conception while taking a TKI. Women on TKIs who are considering pregnancy should be encouraged to plan the pregnancy to minimize inadvertent first trimester exposure. In women who conceive while taking TKIs, the serious risk of relapse due to discontinuation of TKI should be balanced against the potential risks to the fetus. The risk of teratogenicity to a fathered pregnancy with TKI use is considerably lower. Fertility preservation for a woman taking a TKI can be considered to plan a pregnancy with a minimal TKI-free period. With careful monitoring, providers may consider a TKI washout period followed by controlled ovarian stimulation to cryopreserve oocytes or embryos, with a plan to resume TKIs until ready to conceive or to transfer an embryo to achieve pregnancy quickly. Fertility preservation is also indicated if a patient on TKI is requiring a gonadotoxic therapy or reproductive surgery impacting fertility.

Pregnancy outcomes of women whom spouse fathered children after tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has revolutionized the therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Although the efficacy of TKIs is beyond dispute, conception-related safety issues are still waiting to be explored, particularly in males. This systematic review aimed to summarize all available evidence on pregnancy outcomes of female spouses of male CML patients who fathered children after TKI treatment for CML.

METHODS

We performed a systematic search in seven electronic databases for studies that reported on male CML patients who did or did not discontinue TKI treatment before conceiving, and the pregnancy outcomes of their female spouse are available. The search centered on the TKI era (from 2001 onward) without any other language or study design restrictions.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 38 potentially eligible papers, 27 non-overlapping study cohorts were analyzed. All were descriptive studies (case or case series studies). Altogether, 428 pregnancies from 374 fathers conceived without treatment discontinuation, 400 of which (93.5%) ended up in a live birth. A total of ten offspring with a malformation (2.5%) were reported: six with imatinib (of 313 live births, 1.9%), two with nilotinib (of 26 live births, 7.7%), one with dasatinib (of 43 live births, 2.3%), and none with bosutinib (of 12 live births). Data on CML status were scarcely reported. Only nine pregnancies (from nine males) and no malformation were reported in males who discontinued TKI treatment before conception.

CONCLUSION

Malformations affected, on average 2.5% of live births from fathers who did not discontinue TKI treatment before conception, which is comparable with the rate of malformations in the general population. Large-scale studies with representative samples are awaited to confirm our results.