Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer: A Literature Review

Abstract

Breast cancer, along with cervical cancer, is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers of pregnancy. Most would define gestational breast cancer as breast cancer that is diagnosed during pregnancy, lactation, and up to 12 months post-partum. The diagnostic and therapeutic implications in this clinical setting are special. These women typically present with a more advanced-stage disease that carries an associated poorer prognosis. Physicians thus are challenged to balance aggressive maternal care with appropriate modifications that will ensure fetal protection. . Of women diagnosed with breast cancer younger than 40 years, only approximately 10% will be pregnant [2,3]. These data certainly suggest a low incidence of pregnancy-associated breast cancer. In fact, historically, the incidence is estimated at 1 in 3000 pregnancies [4][5][6]. Despite the overall low incidence, however, gestational breast cancer is one of the most common pregnancy-associated malignancies, second only to cervical cancer [4,6]. Notably, many have offered that this incidence will only increase as more women delay childbearing until later in life [4,7]. This concern is based on the fact that pregnancy-associated breast cancer is age-related, and women

Pregnancy-associated Breast Cancer: A Review of Imaging Modalities

“…It is epidemiologically uncommon and accounts for about 0.2% to 3.8% of all breast cancers (5,6). It is noteworthy that these cancers are generally worse in prognosis and they are often associated with the axillary lymph nodes metastasis and larger tumor size in diagnosis, possibly due to delay in detection (7). According to previous studies, the prevalence of PABC among mothers who were first pregnant after 30 years was 2 to 3 times that of the number of mothers who gave birth to their first children before the age of 20 (7).…”

“…It is noteworthy that these cancers are generally worse in prognosis and they are often associated with the axillary lymph nodes metastasis and larger tumor size in diagnosis, possibly due to delay in detection (7). According to previous studies, the prevalence of PABC among mothers who were first pregnant after 30 years was 2 to 3 times that of the number of mothers who gave birth to their first children before the age of 20 (7). Common PABC differential diagnoses include fibroadenoma, lactation adenoma, galactocele, and fibrocystic changes.…”

Common Types of Cancer in Pregnancy

“…3,24,25 Malignant melanoma, according to some reports, is the most common. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Hematological malignancies are the fourth most frequent.…”

Fetal Renal Insufficiency Following Trastuzumab Treatment for Breast Cancer in Pregnancy: Case Report und Review of the Current Literature

“…Breast cancer in pregnant women is rare, with an incidence of 1 in 3000 live births [1][2][3]. But with increasingly higher maternal age at time of conception the incidence of malignant diseases in pregnancy is rising.…”

“…Thus, we are more frequently confronted with the question of compatibility of chemotherapy and pregnancy, and information about possible side effects on the fetus is of increasing clinical relevance [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The recent literature describes new therapeutic options for breast cancer during pregnancy and proves the feasibility and tolerability of, e.g., anthracycline-or taxane-containing regimens without compromising the fetus [3,6,7,, especially if chemotherapy is administered during the second or third trimester [6, 7, 10-12, 16, 17, 23-25, 36-38].…”