With 15% of cases each year, breast cancer is quite uncommon among younger women, especially those who are of less than 45 years. However, breast cancer is mostly observed in those women, who are in the childbearing phase. The rate of pregnancy in these cancer survivors is too low due to fear of the side effects of chemotherapy and reduced ovarian function.
Undoubtedly, the percentage of survivors getting pregnant following this cancer is improving, but there are still too many doubts among younger cancer survivors regarding starting the new phase of life. These doubts are: Is pregnancy after breast cancer safe? or What is the right time to get pregnant after breast cancer treatment?
Let's engrave through such questions -
Is pregnancy safe after breast cancer?
Many breast cancer survivors think that the pregnancy is not safe as it can be associated with too many complications. Is it true? let's intervene and find the true facts:
- Pregnancy during breast cancer treatment:
If females plan to be pregnant while undergoing breast cancer treatment, then they must consult their breast surgeon, obstetrician and oncologist for proper guidance, as some medications can be harmful for pregnant women and their fetus. For instance: Tamoxifen can cause teratogenic effects (effects cause birth defects).
Other than this, radiation therapy during pregnancy can lead to fetal toxicity, childhood cancer, and delayed neurocognitive developments. In addition to treatment, diagnostic tests like Contrast-enhanced breast MRI used to detect non-pregnancy related breast cancer may also cause a negative impact in pregnancy. Therefore, it is integral to consult your physician before planning a pregnancy during the ongoing treatment.
- Pregnancy after breast cancer treatment:
You can definitely conceive approximately two years after breast cancer treatment. Two years following the cancer treatment is the peak time for cancer recurrence, therefore waiting for such a long time for a new beginning would be worth it. Moreover, getting pregnant doesn't increase your chances of suffering from cancer.
However, you should avoid taking tamoxifen medicine, if you are planning to conceive as it can interfere with normal delivery processes. Also, consult with your doctor and carefully plan the pregnancy. Take a full record of medication you are having while pregnant. Further, the chemotherapy has no effect on the patient's fertility and the previous history of breast cancer doesn't make babies prone to suffering from cancer in their lifetime.
It can be said that pregnancy after successful treatment of breast cancer is possible. The only thing to make sure is the proper consultation to the doctors before this step.
Other than this, it is very essential to do some breast cancer prevention things from time to time to reduce the risk of breast cancer. For instance, physical fitness, self-breast examination for better breast cancer diagnosis, yearly breast screening after a certain age and a healthy lifestyle. So, Stay healthy and prevent the risk of getting breast cancer.
You can click here to know more preventive tips to reduce risk of getting breast cancer.
Leave a Reply