Oral carcinoma in pregnancy

Oral cancer presenting in pregnancy is a rare combination which, because of current epidemiological changes in the disease, may present more often in the future. Treatment of the condition can be very difficult. Decisions have to be made about terminating the pregnancy or finding a balance between the treatment of the mother and protecting the foetus from the effects of various treatment modalities. This may result in a compromise treatment of the disease. To illustrate the problems, we discuss a case of carcinoma of the tongue presenting in a 23-week pregnant Gravida 1 Para 0 lady, and review the literature.