| The following article features coverage from the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2019 meeting. Click here to read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s conference coverage. |
Patients with breast cancer with mutated BRCA may safely become pregnant, according to a study that was presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
There were previously few data about the safety — both regarding the mother and the fetus — of pregnancy among those with a history of breast cancer who have mutated BRCA1/2 genes. This international retrospective cohort study evaluated whether individuals in this category are themselves at risk if they become pregnant, and whether there is any likely impact on fetal outcomes.
The researchers included 1252 patients from 30 centers worldwide; all patients had invasive stage I to stage III disease, and were aged 40 years or younger. Eight hundred and eleven patients had mutated BRCA1, 430 had mutated BRCA2, and 11 had mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2.
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After a median 4.5 years following disease diagnosis, 195 (16%) patients had become pregnant, although 36 of these women had either an induced or spontaneous abortion. Among the patients who conceived, delivery complications and congenital anomalies were described in 13 (11.6%) and 2 (1.8%) cases, respectively, according to the authors.
After a median follow-up of 8.3 years, the authors found that patients who became pregnant had improved disease-free survival (hazard ratio, .71; 95% CI, 0.51-0.99; P =.045), though there was no improvement in overall survival, and the disease-free survival benefit was noted only among BRCA1-positivepatients.
The authors concluded that pregnancy in this patient group “is safe in [mutated] BRCA [patients], particularly mBRCA1, with no detrimental impact on maternal prognosis or fetal outcomes. These findings are of paramount importance for fertility counseling in young mBRCA [breast cancer patients].”
Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of ASCO’s annual meeting by visiting the conference page.
Reference
Lambertini M, Ameye L, Hamy AS, et al. Safety of pregnancy following breast cancer (BC) in patients (pts) carrying a BRCA mutation (mBRCA): results of an international cohort study. Presented at: 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting; May 31-June 4, 2019; Chicago, IL. Abstract 11506.
