Elyce H. Cardonick, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine physician at Cooper University Health Care and founder of the Cancer and Pregnancy Registry, has played an integral role in helping women diagnosed with cancer during their pregnancy. Read the full story at cooperhealth.org.
Discovering that you’re pregnant and that you have cancer is a study in contrasts—it’s the happiest time in many women’s lives combined with one of the darkest and most terrifying.
“In the midst of the joy of pregnancy there’s this frightening diagnosis,” says Generosa Grana, MD, Director of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. “The mom-to-be is worried about her own survival as well as the impact of her disease on the baby she’s giving birth to. What’s more, many doctors aren’t used to dealing with this difficult situation.” Read the full post from cooperhealth.org.
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For many cancer survivors – both men and women alike – starting, expanding, or completing one’s family after cancer is a significant desire. But for female cancer survivors, many want to know, “Is pregnancy safe after cancer?” This is of particular concern for breast cancer survivors who may worry about the elevated estrogen levels that occur during pregnancy.
The good news is, for almost all cancer survivors (choriocarcinoma aside), pregnancy does not affect the risk of recurrence of any type of cancer – even breast cancer. This is true even for women with prior estrogen-positive cancers. In fact, some studies suggest that women with a history of early-stage breast cancer who become pregnant after completing treatment actually see an improvement in survival overall.
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