title: Women's post-chemotherapy parity is affected by offspring number and marital status.
abstract: Childbearing rates post-chemotherapy for breast cancer (BC) are affected by age and chemotherapy-type but may also depend on personal characteristics. In this single institution retrospective study we evaluated post-chemotherapy fertility and its association with offspring number and marital-status at the time of BC diagnosis. We identified 65 fertile BC patients under 38y, who received adjuvant-chemotherapy. Menses resumption and pregnancies along with offspring-number and marital-status were recorded. Menses resumed in 95.4% and 33.8% gave birth. Of those who did not give birth 46.5% had at least three children at diagnosis and of those without children 83% were unmarried. Our data associates multiparity with lower childbearing post-chemotherapy, suggesting it as a possible surrogate for women's preferences in retrospective studies. Unlike multiparity, marital status association with lower childbearing may be culture-dependent and not a universal surrogate for women's intentions and would be best investigated prospectively.
authors.affiliation: Sharette Institute of Oncology, Ein Kerem, Hadassah Hebrew-University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. danielakatz@hadassah.org.il
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Haggi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mazeh
authors.forename: Amichay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meirovitz
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uziely
authors.forename: Yakir
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rottenberg
authors.forename: Tanir M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Allweis
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Revel
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peretz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D043762:Reproductive Behavior; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents