Keyword: fertility

Study : Is it safe for BRCA mutation carriers to become pregnant following breast cancer?

Relevance: High

Strength of Science: High

Research Timeline: Post Approval

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Most relevant for: Women with a BRCA mutation who are considering pregnancy after breast cancer

New research shows that pregnancy after breast cancer is safe for women with BRCA mutations and their babies. (9/4/19)

Study : Diagnosis and treatment delays in young women with breast cancer

Relevance: Medium-High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Most relevant for: Young women who find a breast lump and young women newly-diagnosed with breast cancer

Young women are more likely to have delays in a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.  Factors that affect these delays include pregnancy, breastfeeding, financial concerns and having a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. (8/5/19)

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Study : FORCE online survey: What breast cancer information do young women want and where do they look for it?

Relevance: Medium-High

Most relevant for: Young women and the health care providers who treat them

FORCE developed the CDC-funded Examining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors or XRAYS program to help young breast cancer survivors and those at high-risk better understand media coverage about new breast cancer research. To ensure that the program would be responsive to users’ needs, FORCE designed a web-based survey to assess where young women look for information about breast cancer and to learn their unmet information needs.  The results of this survey were published in the journal Health Communications. (1/18/19)

Study : Improving outcomes for young women with breast cancer: fertility and childbearing issues

Relevance: Medium-High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Research Timeline: Human Research

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Most relevant for: Women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age

Fertility issues and family planning decisions are prominent concerns for young women with breast cancer. This XRAYS looks at Dr. Ann Partridge’s presentation at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer symposium. Her talk, “Breast cancer in young women: Understanding differences to improve outcomes," focused on initial findings from the Young Women's Breast Cancer Study. Dr. Partridge’s research continues in the currently enrolling POSITIVE trial which tests whether women can safely interrupt adjuvant endocrine therapy in order to get pregnant. (1/7/19)

Study : Breast cancer risk increases modestly after childbirth

Relevance: Medium-High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Most relevant for: Women in their childbearing years

Does having children alter the risk of breast cancer? Women who give birth have a lower lifetime risk of breast cancer. However, newer data suggests that breast cancer risk increases immediately after childbirth. A study published in December 2018 examines data from the Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collective Group seeking to clarify this issue. (12/28/18)

Study : Childbearing after breast cancer among young survivors

Relevance: High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Research Timeline: Post Approval

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Most relevant for: Young breast cancer survivors who wish to become pregnant

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer as an adolescent or young adult often have not yet begun or finished childbearing. Researchers studied the impact of breast cancer and related treatment on birth rates and birth outcomes in young survivors. Overall, adverse birth outcomes were not increased for young survivors compared to women without cancer.  However, women with ER-negative breast cancers had a modestly higher frequency of preterm and low weight births. The authors highlight the need for fertility counseling and potential fertility preserving methods prior to treatment. (5/10/18)

Study : Take your time, follow your heart: strategies for communication about family planning

Relevance: Medium-High

Strength of Science: Medium

Most relevant for: Young high risk women

When a woman is newly diagnosed with a BRCA mutation, she faces many risk management decisions. Although many of these decisions impact family planning, little guidance is available on how to communicate this information. This study examines female previvors’ advice on effective strategies for discussing family planning decisions. (03/28/18)

Article : Coping with the financial burden of breast cancer

Relevance: Medium-High

Quality of Writing: Medium-High

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Most relevant for: People diagnosed with breast cancer

U.S. News & World Report recently talked to three breast cancer survivors, including two young women, about how they handled out-of-pocket costs and other medical expenses after their cancer diagnosis. (Posted 1/4/18)

Study : Birth control and breast cancer risk among younger women

Relevance: High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Most relevant for: Young women on, or considering taking hormonal birth control

On December 7, 2017 the New England Journal of Medicine published results from a study by Lina Mørrch of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues showing that hormonal contraceptives (birth control) increase the risk of breast cancer. The study is unique because it is one of the first to specifically assess the breast cancer risk associated with newer, low-dosage methods of contraception. The large and significant effort analyzed medical data of nearly 1.8 million young women in Denmark on average for over 10.9 years. Results were covered widely in the U.S. by many major media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, Forbes and Time.  (12/14/17)

Article : Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and hereditary cancer

Relevance: Medium-High

Quality of Writing: High

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Most relevant for: people with an inherited mutation linked to cancer risk

Andrew Joseph’s piece for STAT, “A baby with a disease gene or no baby at all: Genetic testing of embryos creates an ethical morass,” focuses on  preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and the emerging ethical issue in the field of reproductive medicine: What to do when patients seeking to get pregnant select embryos with DNA that could lead to a disease or a disability.  (11/8/17)