BACKGROUND: The issue of pregnancy following the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is important because the incidence of breast cancer is increasing in women of childbearing age. The fact that many women are delaying childbearing, whether for educational, professional, or personal reasons, increases the number of women who will undergo breast cancer treatment before completing childbearing. METHODS: Data on pregnancy in breast cancer survivors are limited and consist only of retrospective data. This paper reviews the published literature on the influence of subsequent pregnancy on breast cancer, including three recent large-scale population-based studies. RESULTS: The survival of women with breast carcinoma who subsequently become pregnant is not reported to be decreased in any of the published series. However, several biases may be present that justify the concern regarding the conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: Further research on the safety of subsequent pregnancy after breast carcinoma treatment is needed. To address these issues, patients are currently being accrued for a large, prospective, multicenter study of young breast carcinoma patients.
