CHEMOTHERAPY FOR BREAST CANCER DURING PREGNANCY
AND POSTPARTUM: A RETROSPECTIVE DESCRIPTIVE STUDY
ANCA A. SIMIONESCU¹, ²*, DRAGOȘ MEDIAN³
¹“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
²Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Fetal Maternal Medicine, 11-13,
Ion Mihalache Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania
³Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Department of Gynaecological Oncology, 11-13, Ion Mihalache Boulevard, Bucharest,
Romania
*corresponding author: asimion2002@yahoo.com
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Abstract:
As childbearing age increases, the incidence of cancer during pregnancy is rising. Herein we present a retrospective study of
chemotherapy for breast cancer during pregnancy and postpartum. Among the four cases presented in our paper, two women
received chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide during pregnancy; one achieved a partial response and the other
a complete response. Two women received chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide and paclitaxel during the
postpartum period. One of these patients died; she started treatment 3 months after diagnosis with an aggressive invasive
ductal carcinoma. Three of the four patients achieved a favourable outcome, and are alive and free of disease 1 and 2 years
after treatment. The 5 infants born showed normal development and cardiac assessment at 6 months and 1 year of age. We
conclude that doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy can be safely administered during the second and third trimester
of pregnancy and during postpartum period. While additional follow-up studies are needed to assess possible long-term
toxicities, this pilot study can be seen as a first step toward changing medical opinion regarding the option of chemotherapy
during pregnancy.

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