Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, there is an increase in the incidence of breast cancer during pregnancy, which is likely due to the trend toward increasing age at childbirth. The incidence rate of pregnancy-associated breast cancer ranges from 17.5 to 39.9 per 100,000 births.The purpose of our study is to identify distinctive characteristics, evaluate disease-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in a group of patients with pregnancy-associated breast cancer.Materials and methods. The results of treatment of 68 patients diagnosed with breast cancer detected during pregnancy or within 12 months after childbirth were analyzed. As a comparison group, the results of treatment of 165 patients aged from 20 to 45 years were analyzed.Results. When comparing the histological types of tumors in the group of pregnancy-associated malignancies, statistically significant differences were observed in the group of triple negative subtypes. However, there were no differences in long-term survival between groups.Conclusions. The most common histological subtype in breast cancer associated with pregnancy is triple negative, while luminal subtypes are less common than in the general population. There is a tendency to detect cancer in pregnant women at later stages. The effect of pregnancy on OS is currently not fully understood and additional research is required on pregnancy as an unfavorable prognostic factor.