Pregnancy and labour likelihood after breast cancer (a review)

Abstract

Background. Oncological diseases are the major challenge in modern medicine. This is explained, on the one hand, by a growing number of such patients, changes in the morbidity structure, higher mortality rates and clinical complications. On the other hand, new diagnostic methods and improved therapeutic protocols appear that help save lives, health and fertility of patients. Breast cancer is the most prevailing cancer in reproductive age and pregnant young women, which identifi es its priority in oncology, obstetric gynaecology and reproductive medicine.Objectives. Assessment of pregnancy likelihood, its course and outcome in women with breast cancer in history.Мethods. Publication records were mined in Scopus, Web of Science, MedLine, Eliibrary and PubMed under the search depth of 10 years. The query terms were: breast cancer [рак молочной железы], infertility [бесплодие], pregnancy [беременность], preimplantation genetic diagnosis [предимплантационная генетическая диагностика]. Content analysis and descriptive analytics were employed as research tools.Results. We analysed 94 records, mainly from Scopus, PubMed and Elibrary, and selected 38 publications presenting a structured content analysis of current standards in assessing the likelihood of pregnancy and labour in women with breast cancer in history. The pregnancy likelihood was found to depend on the course of cancer, treatment regimen, female age and basic ovarian reserve. Breast cancer in history was shown to likely incite various obstetric and perinatal complications. Pregnancy scheduling optimal in this female cohort, as well as current approaches to induced termination of pregnancy, have been described.Conclusion. Pregnancy can be successful with malignant history, including breast cancer, provided an optimal choice of modern treatment settings for minimising the long-term risk of infertility, specialised medical counselling for effective egg and embryo preservation, full pregravid preparation and optimal post-treatment pregnancy scheduling. According to European and American research, no conclusive rationale exists for induced abortion in women having breast cancer during pregnancy or one year after delivery.

Keywords

• pregnancy
• breast cancer
• infertility
• preimplantation genetic diagnosis