Pregnancy after getting diagnosed with breast cancer is possible, but one must be aware of treatments that could undermine fertility.
Becoming a mother after a cancer diagnosis, especially breast cancer, is a major concern for young women as in fact treatments like chemotherapy may impair fertility or reproductive capacity.
Even though current guidelines do not discourage women who are diagnosed with breast cancer from the desire for motherhood, they often consider options such as freezing the eggs or taking drugs like LH analogues, which put ovaries at rest.
Recent studies have shown that having a pregnancy after breast cancer does not increase the risk of developing a recurrence. In addition, thanks to advances in science and research, having a child is safe for both the mother and the newborn.
The study conducted on women with breast cancer, during an 8-year follow-up, shows no differences in the prognosis between those women who were pregnant and had children and those who were not pregnant. Notably, It was also reported that the incidences of abortions were not higher than in the general population.
However, it is really important to preserve the fertility of the patient, as in fact the information is limited concerning the protection of fertility. Notably, Gonadotoxic treatments can totally or partially damage the ovaries and undermine fertility but these treatments totally depend upon factors such as the age of the patient, the drugs used, and the doses of those drugs.
This article was first published in Italian by Dr. Antonio Giordano for La Voce Di New York, here's the link.
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