SABCS: 22 Percent of Young BRCA Carriers Conceive After Breast Cancer

FRIDAY, Dec. 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty-two percent of young BRCA carriers conceive within 10 years after diagnosis of breast cancer, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 5 to 9 in San Antonio.

Matteo Lambertini, M.D., from the University of Genova in Italy, and colleagues examined the cumulative incidence of pregnancy and disease-free survival among young BRCA carriers in a retrospective cohort study conducted at 78 centers worldwide. A total of 4,732 BRCA1/2 carriers diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at age 40 years or younger between January 2000 and December 2020 were included.

The researchers found that 659 of the participants had at least one pregnancy after breast cancer and 4,073 did not. At 10 years, the cumulative incidence was 22 percent, with a median of 3.5 years from breast cancer diagnosis to conception. Of the patients with a pregnancy, 6.9 and 9.7 percent had an induced abortion or miscarriage, respectively. Five hundred seventeen patients had a completed pregnancy: 91.0 percent delivered at term and 10.4 percent had twins. Overall, 0.9 percent of the 470 infants born with known information on pregnancy complications had documented congenital anomalies. For patients with and without a pregnancy after breast cancer, there was no significant difference observed in disease-free survival during a median follow-up of 7.8 years. Significantly better breast cancer-specific and overall survival were seen for patients who had a pregnancy.

"Our results can inform counseling of young BRCA carriers interested in conceiving following breast cancer diagnosis," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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