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Risk of recurrence for pregnant survivors?

Page last modified on: September 17, 2008
Question from Lm: Can women with estrogen, progesterone, and HER2-positive breast cancer, and who’ve been treated with mastectomy/chemotherapy/Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab) and hormone therapy, go on to have safe pregnancies without inducing a recurrence in the cancer?
Answers —Leslie Schover, Ph.D.: It's always nice to have more research, but from the big studies that have been done so far, if a woman is able to get pregnant after successful breast cancer treatment, her risk of a recurrence or dying from breast cancer is no greater than that of a similar woman who did not get pregnant. In fact, there is what you call the “healthy mother effect.” It seems that women who do get pregnant after breast cancer may actually have better survival than their peers. Maybe this is because the women who have the best chance of a healthy future are the ones who try to get pregnant.
Kutluk Oktay, M.D.: Even though some studies did control for things like health standards to make sure that it is not the healthier woman attempting pregnancy, therefore if they’re pregnant the likelihood of recurrence is lower. So it is not necessarily clear that if some women do better if they get pregnant after breast cancer treatment has been completed, that this is merely due to the fact that they were healthier to begin with. Nevertheless, it will be impossible to perform an ideal study, as we cannot randomly ask women to get pregnant or not to get pregnant. Therefore, the best evidence is what we have, which is unlikely to be improved by further studies.

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Fertility and Pregnancy. Kutluk Oktay, M.D. and Leslie Schover, Ph.D. answered your questions about breast cancer treatments that can affect your fertility, options for preserving your fertility, being treated for breast cancer while pregnant, and more.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

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Meet the Experts

Kutluk Oktay, M.D.Kutluk Oktay, M.D. is a professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the director of the Division of Reproductive Medicine & Infertility at New York Medical College.

Leslie R. Schover, Ph.D.Leslie R. Schover, Ph.D. is a renowned psychologist with a special interest in helping people resolve or manage their sexual problems, especially those problems connected with a chronic illness such as cancer.

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