Pregnancy no risk to breast-cancer patients: study

TORONTO — Pregnancy does not increase the risk of dying for women who have breast cancer, a new study suggests.

The study, by Toronto-based researchers, found that five-year survival rates were similar for women who were pregnant around the time of a breast cancer diagnosis and those who were not pregnant.

Some doctors recommend that women wait two years before becoming pregnant after they finish treatment for breast cancer.

But the new research suggests that those women need not delay their pregnancy.

Principal researcher Dr. Steven Narod, of Women’s College Hospital, said it appears pregnancy at the time of breast cancer did not appear to pose a risk to the mother.

The study, which was published on Thursday in the journal JAMA Oncology, analyzed the health records of more than 7,500 breast cancer patients aged 20 to 44 in Ontario between 2003 and 2014.

Overall survival was 88 per cent for women with no pregnancy, 82 per cent for those with breast cancer while pregnant and about 97 per cent for women who got pregnant six months or more after a breast cancer diagnosis.

The researchers found that early age at diagnosis was associated with more aggressive breast cancers, but it was not the pregnancy that was the risk factor.

“We know that breast cancers in young women are more aggressive and have a higher risk of recurring,” Narod said.

“Our work shows that we need more studies to understand why younger women fare worse, and how to help them recover from breast cancer.”