Breast Cancer During Pregnancy: Three Cases Report

The incidence of pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) although rare, is increasing as women are delaying childbirth. Breast cancer associated with pregnancy presents the clinician with particular challenges. The diagnosis may be delayed and difficult owing to the physiological changes within the breast and limitations on investigations. Authors report three cases of PABC diagnosed in 2011 in the Centro Hospitalar de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal (in 2011 occurred 1680 births in the hospital). Two were diagnosed on the delivery's day and one at her 14th week of pregnancy. Women were proposed to do chemotherapy (one started this treatment during pregnancy), mastectomy and radiotherapy. PABC is a rare and challenging problem. As modern women delay childbearing, this problem is expected to increase. Nowadays we know that breast cancer has an equivalent prognosis in pregnant and non-pregnant patients when matched by age and stage at diagnosis. Once PABC were significantly more likely to have more advanced stage, due to a delay in diagnosis, and presented more frequently as hormone receptor-negative tumors, they are associated with poor outcomes. In this way early detection is a significant predictor of improved outcomes. Management of breast cancer during pregnancy requires an interdisciplinary care team and careful consideration of the patient's stage of disease, the gestacional age of the fetus, and the preferences of the patient and her family.