What to do if you get pregnant during chemotherapy for breast cancer

Many people may think that if breast cancer is found during pregnancy, the pregnancy should be terminated. There is actually no "one size fits all" approach to this issue. If breast cancer is found in the early stages of pregnancy, it is best to terminate the pregnancy. However, if breast cancer is found in the middle or late stages of pregnancy, the treatment plan can be selected according to the specific situation, and the pregnancy does not necessarily need to be terminated. What should I do if I get pregnant during chemotherapy for breast cancer? Will chemotherapy for breast cancer harm the health of the fetus? Let's take a look at the following introduction.

Will chemotherapy for breast cancer harm the health of the fetus?

Due to the relationship between the fetus and the breast cancer, the existing breast cancer treatment methods have some restrictions on the use of breast cancer during pregnancy. For example, radiotherapy and endocrine therapy cannot be used during the entire pregnancy, chemotherapy can only be used after 3 months of pregnancy, and the impact of targeted therapy on the fetus is not yet clear. The drug dose intensity of chemotherapy for breast cancer during pregnancy is no different from that of conventional chemotherapy. As for whether chemotherapy will pose a threat to the health of the fetus, many retrospective studies have shown that babies born to mothers who received chemotherapy in the second trimester are in good health, and the incidence of diseases and tumors has not increased when they grow up. However, the longer-term impact is still unknown.

It should be emphasized that continuing the pregnancy does not mean leaving breast cancer alone. Patients must actively control the development of breast cancer through chemotherapy or surgery. So, will the treatment have an impact on the fetus? Currently, the main means of treating breast cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy and targeted therapy. Different treatments have different effects on the fetus. Among them, radiotherapy and endocrine therapy have the greatest impact on fetal development, so they should be avoided throughout the pregnancy; while chemotherapy can be performed in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, and has little effect on the fetus.

For breast cancer patients who have not yet become pregnant, whether they can become pregnant depends on whether they still have the opportunity and ability to become pregnant. Because chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, etc. all have an impact on ovarian function, it is not easy for breast cancer patients to conceive. Studies have shown that breast cancer patients who have children after surgery have a better prognosis than those who have not. There are many reasons for this difference, but at least it shows that breast cancer patients should not give up their right to be mothers because of concerns about the risk of recurrence.

In terms of breast cancer prevention, although we cannot change some breast cancer risk factors such as age and genetics, we can still reduce the incidence of breast cancer by changing our diet and lifestyle habits, including breastfeeding, avoiding multiple abortions, limiting high-fat diet, exercising more, and other healthy lifestyles.