While many women of childbearing age are afraid of no longer being able to have children following breast cancer, a study is intended to be reassuring on the issue.
- In France, breast cancer is both the most common and the deadliest in women.
- Breast cancer can affect women of childbearing age.
- A new survey indicates that women with this profile have a good chance of having a child later if they wish.
A study shows that most young women treated for breast cancer can subsequently have children.
73% of women try to conceive after breast cancer
The trial, which followed nearly 200 young women treated for breast cancer, found that the majority of those who tried to conceive during a median period of 11 years after treatment were able to become pregnant and give birth. birth of a child.
During the research, 73% of women who tried to conceive after breast cancer became pregnant and 65% gave birth to a live child. Those who opted for fertility preservation through egg or embryo freezing before their treatments tended to have a higher birth rate, while older participants tended to have lower pregnancy rates .
Participants had breast cancers ranging from stage 0 (non-invasive and confined within the milk duct) to stage III (when the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes). The researchers found that the stage of the disease at diagnosis was not statistically associated with subsequent pregnancy.
These encouraging results will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Breast cancer: we must “guarantee accessibility to fertility preservation services”
“Previous studies on our study topic were limited because they followed patients over relatively short periods of time and did not specifically address the topic of pregnancy with them,” explains study author Ann Partridge.
“For many young women with breast cancer, the possibility of having children after treatment is a major concern,” also says essay co-author Kimia Sorouri. “The results of our study may be useful in counseling patients on fertility issues. The fact that freezing eggs/embryos before treatment is associated with a higher rate of births afterwards highlights the need to ensure the accessibility to fertility preservation services for this population”, he finishes.
Breast cancer: a survival rate of 87% for French women
In France, breast cancer is both the most common and the deadliest in women. However, its incidence and mortality decrease from year to year. “In the majority of cases, its development takes several months, even several years. Detected early, it is a cancer with a good prognosis, whose survival rate remains stable (87%),” noted the National Cancer Institute.
