According to a new study, the situation of mothers-to-be who develop breast cancer is similar to that of other women with breast cancer: they do not experience different symptoms and the likelihood of survival is the same compared to other women’s.

 

According to statistics, the pregnancy-associated breast cancer, defined as cancer that develops during pregnancy or soon afterwards, is relatively rare.

“If we can get them early, we can treat them aggressively and have good and promising outcomes for both woman and child,” the study's lead author, Dr. Beth Beadle of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was quoted as saying. If breast cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer exceeds 90%. The most common screening methods are self and clinical breast exams, x-ray mammography, and breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

 

Mammograms are among the best early detection methods, as they can detect breast cancer up to two years before it is large enough to be felt.

For the study, published in the journal Cancer, the researchers analyzed data from 652 women ages 35 and younger who were treated for breast cancer at M.D. Anderson from 1973 through 2006. The group of participants included 104 women diagnosed with pregnancy-associated cancers: almost half of them developed cancer during pregnancy and the other half developed cancer within a year after pregnancy.

 

The study found no difference between the rates of cancer recurrence, cancer spread and survival among those with pregnancy-associated breast cancers and those who were diagnosed with cancer one year after pregnancy.