New research from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has promising findings for young women who have survived breast cancer and wish to start a family. The study followed almost 200 young women who had been treated for breast cancer and discovered that the majority of those who attempted to conceive during an average of 11 years after treatment were successful in getting pregnant and giving birth to a child.A large number of individuals who attempted to conceive over a span of 11 years after receiving treatment were successful in achieving pregnancy and giving birth to a child.
These results, which will be presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), are significant as they address various questions that previous studies on pregnancy and live-birth rates among breast cancer survivors were unable to answer, according to the study authors.
<p”Previous studies were limited in scope because they only included specific patient groups, followed patients for a short period of time, and did not inquire about participants’ attempts to conceive during the study period,” the researchers note.”The study’s senior author, Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, who is also the founder and director of the Program for Young Adults with Breast Cancer at Dana-Farber, explains that the study focused on pregnancy and live birth rates among breast cancer survivors and patients who had tried to conceive after their cancer diagnosis,” said the study’s senior author, Ann Partridge, MD, MPH. The patients were part of the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Study, which monitors the health of women diagnosed with breast cancer at or under the age of 40. Out of 1,213 eligible participants, 197 reported attempting pregnancy.The study observed 73% of women trying to get pregnant were successful, and 65% gave birth over an 11-year period. Most participants were diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer at the age of 32. The study also found that women who underwent fertility preservation through egg or embryo freezing before cancer treatment had a higher live birth rate, while older women tended to have lower rates. Participants were regularly surveyed to track their attempts to conceive and their pregnancy outcomes.The study focused on participants with varying stages of breast cancer, from non-invasive stage 0 to stage III where the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. The research discovered that the stage of the disease at diagnosis did not have a significant impact on the ability to achieve pregnancy or live birth.
Dr. Kimia Sorouri, the study’s lead author from Dana-Farber, emphasized the importance of these findings for young women with breast cancer who are concerned about their fertility after treatment. This information can be valuable when providing guidance to patients regarding their fertility options.The study found that freezing eggs or embryos before treatment increased the chances of a successful live birth, highlighting the importance of making fertility preservation services more accessible to this group.”
Funding for this study was provided by Susan G. Komen and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
