Breast cancer in pregnancy

Abstract

Breast cancer in pregnancy is rare with an incidence of 1:3,000 to 1:10,000 and is the second most common after cervical cancer. The outlook for such patients is less favourable than that of non- pregnant women probably because the stage of the disease is more advanced when it is discovered and also due to delay in therapy. The need for prompt treatment presents a clinical dilemma of considerable magnitude as there is always a conflict between optimal maternal therapy and the resultant risks imposed on fetal well-being. In the absence of a standardised protocol for management, this review focuses on the issues of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in pregnancy. Relevant current literature using Medline search strategy was examined.