Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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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
2.Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Fetal Maternal Medicine, 11-13, Ion Mihalache Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania
3.Filantropia Clinical Hospital, Department of Gynaecological Oncology, 11-13, Ion Mihalache Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania

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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.