Pregnancy ‘may protect against breast cancer recurrence’

Pregnancy may have a protective effect on women who have suffered from breast cancer, according to new research.

Studies presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona have revealed that women who have been treated for breast cancer can have babies without furthering their risk of dying from their cancer.

Analysis of 14 trials by researchers from Belgium and Italy shows that pregnancy is safe for breast cancer survivors.

The findings do not support the notion that hormonal changes caused by pregnancy could prompt a recurrence of the cancer or cause it to be more aggressive.

Dr Hatem Azim of the Institute Jules Bordet in Brussels claimed that the analysis actually suggests that patients who became pregnant after being diagnosed with breast cancer had a 42 per cent reduction in the risk of death compared with those survivors who did not get pregnant.

He declared: “Our findings demonstrate that pregnancy is safe in women with a history of successfully treated breast cancer.”