In an update from a conference in 2010, a German research group has had a study published in The Lancet asserting that chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment is safe for both pregnant women and the children they are carrying.
The observational study demonstrated that birth defects are not increased with the second and third trimester exposures to chemotherapy, according to researchers with the German Breast Group in Neu-Isenburg, Germany. That said, lower birthweight for gestational age was linked to chemotherapy exposure in utero.
Perhaps the most impactful observation was that progression-free survival rates among the mothers weren't significantly different for women with early-stage cancers whether they chose to wait to begin treatment until after they delivered or whether they chose to begin treatment while still carrying.
Adding to that, it appears as though preterm delivery was more common among women who delayed chemotherapy treatment until after delivery.
According to the researchers, the best chemotherapy drugs to use in this patient population remains uncertain, even though most of the women in this registry received an anthracycline. All things taken together, they concluded that "Because preterm birth was strongly associated with adverse events, a full-term delivery seems to be of paramount importance,"
Source: MedPage Today
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