Study: Childbirth Does Not Affect Breast Cancer Survival

A young woman who becomes delivers a baby after being diagnosed with breast cancer does not appear to increase her risk of death, according to a report in the journal Cancer.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center compared death rates among 438 women under age 45 with breast cancer who had children after their diagnosis and 2,775 women with breast cancer who didn't have children after their cancer diagnosis.

Overall, women who were pregnant when breast cancer was diagnosed had a mortality rate comparable to that of breast cancer patients who did not give birth.

The researchers found that women diagnosed late in their pregnancy who gave birth within three months of the cancer being found were at greater risk.

But women who gave birth at least 10 months after being diagnosed with breast cancer were 46 percent less likely to die than women without subsequent births, the researchers reported.

The researchers said childbearing may not actually confer an actual survival benefit, however, because of "healthy mother bias" — the possibility that a woman's assessment of her health may have influenced her decision on whether to get pregnant.

Other Sources: Cancer