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Breast Cancer During Pregnancy: Medical Therapy and Prognosis

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Cancer and Pregnancy

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 178))

Abstract

The pathological features of breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy have been analyzed in numerous studies. Because of the retrospective nature of such studies and the paucity of casecontrol studies it is impossible to directly compare the biological properties of breast cancer in pregnant and nonpregnant patients of similar age. The vast majority of breast cancers are invasive ductal (Woo et al. 2003). It is likely that, in addition to larger tumor diameters and more frequent involvement of the regional lymph nodes, breast cancers in pregnancy are characterized by poor differentiation and low expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (Fig. 5.1) (Bonnier et al. 1997; Gentilini et al. 2004; Middleton et al. 2003; Miller et al. 2005; Reed et al. 2003; Ring et al. 2005); a recent review identified 13 studies reporting estrogen receptors in breast cancers diagnosed during pregnancy; estrogen receptors were negative in 138 of 235 patients (59%, 95% confidence interval 52%–65%) (Woo et al. 2003). The proportion of breast cancers with overexpression of HER-2 protein was similar in pregnant and in young nonpregnant patients (Aziz et al. 2003; Colleoni et al. 2002; Middleton et al. 2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Stefan Aebi

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Sybille Loibl

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Aebi, S., Loibl, S. (2008). Breast Cancer During Pregnancy: Medical Therapy and Prognosis. In: Cancer and Pregnancy. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71274-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71274-9_5

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