Can breast cancer patients become pregnant?

Can breast cancer patients become pregnant?

Can breast cancer patients become pregnant and have children? Is there a risk of recurrence during pregnancy? Is the child healthy?

In recent years, breast cancer patients have become younger and younger, and they have even extended their magic to many unpregnant young women. Good doctors often see patients asking: I heard that pregnancy of breast cancer patients will increase the chance of recurrence and metastasis. What should I do if I am so young and want to have children?

Related studies have shown that more than 50% of young women with breast cancer are willing to become pregnant, and only 4% to 7% of patients will choose to become pregnant due to fear of recurrence and metastasis.

▌Can breast cancer patients become pregnant really cause recurrence and metastasis?

People always feel that the increased levels of estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy will promote breast cancer recurrence and metastasis. However, many studies have shown that after getting breast cancer, even if you get pregnant again, it will not cause breast cancer to relapse and metastasize, which will affect the survival and prognosis.

An article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (IF: 24.008), an authoritative oncology journal, showed that after breast cancer treatment, pregnancy is safe and feasible. Pregnancy can even improve the overall survival of breast cancer patients. Increase the risk of recurrence and metastasis of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients.

The team also made a follow-up report in 2017: Through long-term follow-up observation, whether it is estrogen receptor positive or negative, pregnancy will not affect the survival rate of breast cancer patients, and for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer patients In other words, pregnancy can improve their overall survival rate.

This research has brought a lot of comfort to young unborn or needy patients.

▌At this time, some patients will still have a doubt: Will the child’s health status be affected if he becomes pregnant after radiotherapy and chemotherapy?

According to data from the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, most of the breast cancer patients treated can deliver healthy babies after pregnancy, and the long-term survival of the fetus is not adversely affected.

The study found that compared with patients who did not get pregnant after breast cancer treatment, patients who gave birth after treatment reduced the risk of death by 44% and the risk of disease recurrence by 27%.

The risk of premature delivery of the fetus will increase by 45%, and the risk of Caesarean section will increase by 14%. It is worth noting that the remaining pregnancy complications and congenital defects of the fetus have not increased significantly.

The above two groups of studies have shown that re-pregnancy of breast cancer patients is basically no problem for mothers and children themselves, and can even improve the overall survival of breast cancer patients.

If you plan to give birth after receiving breast cancer treatment, we have the following suggestions for reference:

It is generally recommended for young breast cancer patients: It is still controversial whether pregnancy must not be possible during endocrine therapy. Therefore, strict contraception is recommended during the 5~10 years of endocrine therapy; after surgery and chemotherapy, it is recommended to get pregnant again after 2~3 years, because after surgery The incidence of recurrence and metastasis is relatively high within three years.

For patients who have fertility needs but are still under treatment, oocyte freezing, embryo freezing, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation, immature oocyte in vitro maturation preservation and ovarian function inhibition drugs can be considered.

Young breast cancer sisters, don’t be depressed, you can still have the opportunity to be a mother after the treatment is over!

(source:internet, reference only)

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