Impact of prior breast cancer on mode of delivery and pregnancy-associated disorders: a retrospective analysis of subsequent pregnancy outcomes

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of prior breast cancer (BC) on mode of delivery and pregnancy-associated disorders.

Methods: A database from 262 German gynecological practices including 289,712 women between the ages of 18 and 45 with documented pregnancies between 2000 and 2014 was used to search for patients with a history of BC up to 10 years prior to pregnancy. A total of 165 patients with a history of BC were found and matched with 165 patients without a history of any cancer (1:1) by age, physician, obesity, and documented referral to a fertility center up to 12 months before the index pregnancy. The impact of prior BC on the mode of delivery and pregnancy-associated disorders was analyzed using Cox regression models.

Results: The mean maternal age at first visit was 34.6 years in both groups. The early and late pregnancy loss was significantly reduced (17.7 versus 29.9%, OR 0.50) and delivery of a live-born child more frequent (82.3 versus 70.1%, OR 2.00) in women who had had BC than in controls. Furthermore, preterm contractions without preterm birth were less frequent in women with BC compared to controls (9.2 versus 18.9%, OR 0.43). No significant differences were found for other pregnancy complications, such as suspected fetal growth restriction, genito-urinary infections, fetal malpresentation, gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, or breastfeeding issues.

Conclusions: Based on the decreased rate of early and late pregnancy loss and the absence of significant differences in most documented pregnancy-associated disorders, women with the previous BC can be assured of the possibility of a good outcome on a subsequent pregnancy.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Mode of delivery; Pregnancy; Pregnancy-associated disorders.

Fig. 1

Selection of patients included in this study