Pregnancy after breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers

Jelena Maksimenko; Arvīds Irmejs; Jānis Gardovskis

doi:10.1186/s13053-022-00209-1

Pregnancy after breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers

Hered Cancer Clin Pract. 2022 Jan 21;20(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s13053-022-00209-1.

Authors

Jelena Maksimenko^{1

2

3}, Arvīds Irmejs^{4

5

6}, Jānis Gardovskis^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Oncology, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia. jelena.maksimenko@rsu.lv.
² Department of Surgery, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia. jelena.maksimenko@rsu.lv.
³ Breast Unit, Department of Surgery, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia. jelena.maksimenko@rsu.lv.
⁴ Institute of Oncology, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia.
⁶ Breast Unit, Department of Surgery, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga, Latvia.

Abstract

Background: Often young women affected with BRCA1/2 positive breast cancer have not finished or even not started their childbearing before the onset of the disease. The aim of our mini-review is to summarize state of art knowledge on pregnancy after breast cancer in BRCA1/2 carriers.

Methods: A broad review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE (via PubMed) for relevant articles published. This review summarizes the impact of different cytotoxic agents on a fertility, fertility preservation, maternal and fetal prognosis after pregnancy in breast cancer survivors with BRCA1/2.

Conclusion: According to the existing literature evidence pregnancy after therapy for breast cancer in BRCA carriers is safe for the mother and offspring, but patients' needs, oncofertility counseling and fertility-sparing strategy should be carefully planned before starting the cytotoxic treatment.

Keywords: BRCA1/2 carriers; Breast cancer; Fertility preservation.

Publication types

Review