Study: Half of Breast Cancer Survivors May Give Birth to Malnourished Babies

Being a mother is a new chapter of a woman's life. Excitements filled the soon-to-be mothers because they will soon meet the angel they are conceiving.

For some, concerns in the baby's health are predominantly their priority especially when the mother is pre-diagnosed with the disease that may affect their child.

This is usually the case of soon-to-be mothers that was earlier diagnosed with breast cancer even before entering motherhood. A large metanalysis of breast cancer survivors who is in childbearing age may deliver a child with a lower weight.

ALSO READ: New Drug Reduces Breast Cancer Recurrence by 25%, First in 20 Years

Pregnancy risks for breast cancer survivors

Half of Breast Cancer Survivors Give Birth to Malnourished Babies

(Photo : Paula Bronstein)
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - APRIL 6: Palestinian mothers feed their babies during a feeding program at the Ard El Insan-Terres de Homme clinic on April 6, 2006 in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. The specilaized clinic deals with infants suffering from anemia and malnutrition due to lack of iron, vitamin D and calcium. A shortage of infant formula and the constant border closings make some food products for babies hard to come by along with the financial burdens that large Gaza families deal with daily.

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) reports that researchers from the University of Genova discover that breast cancer survivors have a 50 percent chance of having a baby with low birth weight and a 16 percent higher risk of having a baby that is smaller for the gestational age.

Apart from this issue, Targeted Oncology adds that breast cancer survivors have a 45% increased risk of going into preterm labor.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) also pointed out that women who had breast cancer have a 60% less chance of conceiving a baby compared to the rest of the general population. They added in their article that there is also a 14% chance of having a cesarean section during the delivery of the child.

Cancer.net estimates that 276,480 American women will be with the invasive type of breast cancer, 48,530 will be diagnosed with a non-invasive type of breast cancer.

The Good News

Assistant professor in medical oncology from the University of Genova - IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, Matteo Lambertini MD, Ph.D., notes in a statement published in AACR's release that the availability of more effective anti-cancer medications and survivorship has gained substantial attention. He adds that patients diagnosed with breast cancer during their reproductive years can continue building their family.

Although with chances of the child's lower wight, AJC adds that most survivors who successfully bear a child, give birth to healthy babies with no unfavorable outcome on their long term survival.

Targeted Oncology adds in their article that in the total overall analysis of 3,261 breast cancer patients with post-treatment pregnancy and 58,238 breast cancer without the post-treatment pregnancy, no disadvantageous effect was observed, favoring patients with pregnancy after breast cancer.

Website Aunt Minie explains that despite the risks, the authors of the study found no significant increased risk of congenital defects or other pregnancy or delivery complications. They also noted that increased risk of low birth weight and small gestational age typically appears in women who had chemotherapy as their treatment.

The researchers concluded in AACR that pregnancy after breast cancer is considered to be safe without negative effects on the patient's prognosis.

On cancer-related outcomes

According to AACR, compared with breast cancer patients who did not have a succeeding pregnancy, those who were able to get pregnant had a 44% significant decrease risk of death and 1 27% reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Lead investigator Eva Blondeaux, MD notes in Targeted Oncology that pregnancy does not have long-term impacts on the survivorship of previous breast cancer patients, and their desire to be pregnant should be considered.

Check out more news and information on Cancer and Pregnancy on MD News Daily.