Pregnancy rate, maternal and neonatal outcomes among breast cancer survivors: A systematic review.
Marzieh Azizi, Elham Ebrahimi, Zahra Behboodi Moghadam and 2 others
PMID 37528519WHAT IT FOUND
Breast cancer survivors who tried pregnancy after treatment had pregnancy rates of 3.1% to 48.5%.
Miscarriage and induced abortion were common; most studies did not show pregnancy increased recurrence.
Key findings
01Pregnancy rates among breast cancer survivors who attempted conception after treatment were reported as 3.1% to 48.5%.
02Miscarriage and induced abortion were the most prevalent maternal outcomes; miscarriage was reported in 1.8% to 33.3% and induced abortion in 5.0% to 44.0%.
03Across 22 of 29 studies assessing recurrence, two studies reported breast cancer recurrence; other studies did not find pregnancy increased recurrence risk.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The review included only observational studies, so it cannot prove that pregnancy caused or did not cause recurrence. The included studies varied widely in design, sample size and population, so the reported ranges may not apply to one clinic or one patient. The review did not analyse factors that could explain different pregnancy outcomes or recurrence risks. The analysis was narrative rather than a meta-analysis, so it does not provide a pooled estimate. Some eligible full texts were unavailable during screening.
Declared interests
The supplied article text does not state a funding source or author conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the review as proof that pregnancy after breast cancer treatment is safe for every survivor. It is a narrative review of heterogeneous observational studies, and it did not analyse factors that may influence pregnancy outcomes or recurrence.