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| |  Advice On Pregnancy After Breast-Cancer Treatment LONDON -- August 1, 1997 -- During pregnancy, concentrations of the hormone estrogen, a recognised growth factor in breast cancer, are increased. Whether pregnancy increases the risk of recurrence or death from breast cancer and whether women should be advised against pregnancy after breast-cancer treatment was investigated by Dr. Niels Kroman and colleagues from Cophenhagen, Denmark. Their finding -- that there is no greater risk for poor outcome for these women -- is published in this week’s The Lancet. In Denmark, all people are given an identity number which is included on different types of records. The investigators were able to match up available information about medical history of breast cancer and history of childbirths for individual women. In this way, the investigators identified 5,725 women aged 45 years or younger who had received breast-cancer treatment and were suitable to be enrolled in the study. Among these women, 173 had 211 pregnancies. Pregnancies were classed as full term if women gave birth and non-full term if women had a miscarriage or abortion. The investigators found that women who had full-term pregnancies after treatment for breast cancer had a slightly lower risk of death from breast cancer than women with no full-term pregnancy. There was some concern that women who have a poor outlook after breast-cancer diagnosis may have avoided becoming deliberately pregnant, which could have affected the results. However, information on breast cancers was available for the enrolled women and the investigators were able to include this factor in their analysis. Results showed that women with larger cancers are less likely to become deliberately pregnant. Breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy or in the first few years after pregnancy when the woman’s body has been exposed to higher concentrations of estrogen is associated with a poor outcome. Women may be advised against becoming pregnant after receiving treatment for breast cancer, but the investigators concluded: "We found no evidence that a pregnancy after breast-cancer treatment increased the risk of a poor outcome."
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