What happens if you are pregnant and have breast cancer?
Can a woman who has had breast cancer safely have a baby? Most doctors discourage women from becoming pregnant for from 3 to 5 years following treatment for breast cancer, since recurrences most often happen during this period of time. Recent research has shown that pregnancy after breast cancer has no effect on survival rates. Statistics for women who have had breast cancer and become pregnant are at least as good as those of similar women who do not become pregnant. What is the outlook for women who discover breast cancer during pregnancy? About 7 percent of women who develop breast cancer happen to be pregnant at the time of diagnosis. The outlook for a pregnant woman is just as favorable as that for a nonpregnant woman of the same age with a similar stage of disease provided that the cancer is diagnosed and treated promptly. When a suspicious lump is found, prompt biopsy is just as appropriate for a pregnant woman as for a nonpregnant woman. Biopsy can usuall...