Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0281663 (pregnancy and breast cancer)
 25 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although breast cancer is the most common malignancy in pregnancy, its overall incidence remains low. It appears that pregnancy and breast cancer are merely coincidental and that pregnancy does not directly contribute to the development or accelerated progression of breast cancer. The majority of studies have documented a significant delay in diagnosis secondary to physiologic changes of the breast during pregnancy and have reasoned that this is the likely explanation for the advanced stage of disease upon initial presentation. Although pregnant patients present at a later stage of breast cancer, survival stage for stage is the same when pregnant patients are compared with young nonpregnant patients with breast cancer. A suspicious breast mass in a pregnant patient should be biopsied and appropriately treated, without need for extensive preoperative staging. Therapeutic abortion should be performed only on an individual basis, namely in patients in whom necessary radiation or chemotherapy would be detrimental to the developing fetus and in whom a significant delay of this treatment would be harmful. In patients with early-stage disease, it is recommended to wait 2 years after treatment of breast cancer for subsequent pregnancy; however, in women with advanced disease, subsequent pregnancy should be discouraged.
 ...
PMID:Breast cancer in pregnancy and lactation. 861 Feb 63

The concurrent diagnosis of breast cancer and pregnancy is a challenging clinical situation that historically has placed the welfare of the mother in conflict with that of the fetus. Modified radical mastectomy, the preferred surgical option in women with breast cancer during pregnancy, can be accomplished with minimal fetal risk. Although breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy or quadrantectomy) can be performed, the radiation therapy required to complete local therapy for the breast must be delayed until after delivery because of the risks associated with fetal exposure to radiation. Although much of the literature on the pharmacologic treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy is anecdotal, recently published data from our institution support the premise that breast cancer can be treated safely during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy with combination chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC). Therapeutic abortion does not appear to improve survival for the mother, but it may be an option if maternal health is jeopardized or fetal anomalies are seen or suspected.
 ...
PMID:Breast cancer during pregnancy. 1205 66