Breast cancer in pregnancy.
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.
Eedarapalli
P
P
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Poole Hospital NHS Trust, Poole, UK. padmakumari2003@yahoo.co.uk
Jain
S
S
D001942:Breast Feeding; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors