Breast cancer treatment safe during pregnancy

by Rachel Mosteller (Subscribe to Rachel Mosteller's posts) Jun 24th 2006 2:04PM

Categories: Pregnancy & Birth, Health & Safety

In the past, when a pregnant woman was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had to decide if she should go through with treatment. Many people worried that the treatment would hurt her developing baby.

A new study suggests that it is safe for pregnant women to undergo chemotherapy, though they should wait to undergo radiation therapy until after they have delivered.

Doctors at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have followed 57 pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer. Out of those 57, there were 64 live births with no stillborns. Fifty-seven percent had a vaginal delivery and 75 percent are alive with no recurrence of the disease.

Roughly 3,000 pregnant women are diagnosed each year with breast cancer in the US.

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