Does Subsequent Pregnancy Influence Breast Cancer Survival
Abstract
Among young breast cancer patients, desires for future childbearing may impact treatment decisions and quality of life. Although changes in adjuvant therapy have enabled maintenance of fertility, many oncologists encourage their patients to delay childbearing fearing recurrent disease may be stimulated by hormonal elevations of pregnancy. The current retrospective study based on medical record review was conducted collaboratively with researchers of the Kaiser Permanente Research Foundation in Northern California. Computerized files enabled the identification of 105 breast cancer cases with a history of subsequent pregnancy and 335 cases matched by age, year, and stage at breast cancer diagnosis. A total of 136 women 31 % experienced a recurrence and 99 died of breast cancer. Cox proportional hazards analyses indicated survival did not differ by subsequent pregnancy status. Among the 105 with a history of subsequent pregnancy, 54 women carried to term; the pregnancy was interrupted by miscarriage 11 CASES, induced abortion 39 CASES, or an ectopic pregnancy 1 CASE. Although the study population is small and the duration of follow-tip after pregnancy outcome limited, subsequent pregnancy outcome did not influence breast cancer survival. These findings are reassuring and are in agreement with other published reports.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADB282841
Entities
People
- Ann Zauber
- Catherine Schaefer
- Jeanne A. Petrek
- Ruby Senie
Organizations
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center