Pregnancy After Breast Cancer Treatment: Safe or Not?

A new study presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna has dismissed popular belief that it is not safe to become pregnant after receiving treatment for breast cancer.

There has been a widespread belief that getting pregnant after being treated for breast cancer could see a recurrence of the cancer due to high levels of hormones during pregnancy. However researchers led by Dr Hatem Azim from Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels found no evidence that becoming pregnant was the reason for the recurrence.

The researchers observed more than a 1,000 women between 21 to 48 years of age who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Around 333 women became pregnant after receiving treatment and the researchers found that the breast cancer reappeared in 30 percent of the women.

However on comparing the rate of recurrence, the researchers did not find any difference between those who became pregnant and those who did not. "Out of all the women, 57 per cent had ER+ disease, but the study showed there was no difference in the length of time women with either ER+ or ER negative (ER-) disease survived without their disease recurring compared with those who did not become pregnant", Dr Azim said.


Source: Medindia