
A breast cancer diagnosis can unfortunately come at any age. For younger women in particular, who may be considering starting a family or having more children, this can also raise concerns about how their treatment could affect their reproductive health. Luckily, medicine is advancing and giving women diagnosed with breast cancer more options about the future of their reproductive health. Some women may have the option to “freeze their eggs” before starting cancer treatments. This allows eggs to be safely “harvested” and frozen for later use.
Treatments like chemotherapy can also bring on earlier menopause. In some cases, this effect is temporary and is reversed once treatment is over. This is also known as chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea. The risk of amenorrhea after taxane chemotherapy like Taxol or Taxetere, or Anthracycline chemotherapies like Adriamycin (chemical name: doxorubicin), AKA the Red Devil, account for 21-71% in young women, and 49-100% in those over 40 years of age according to Pourali et al.
"Studies show that getting pregnant does not seem to make cancer return. Some health care providers advise breast cancer survivors to wait 2 years before trying to get pregnant. There is a link between some hormones that rise during pregnancy and the growth of breast cancer cells. But there is no scientific proof that cancer risk increases if a woman gets pregnant within 2 years of completing treatment" (Cancer.net).
If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer and are considering your options for family planning, here are some questions to keep on hand when speaking with your cancer care oncology team:
Will my cancer treatment plan affect my ability to have children?
Are there ways to preserve my fertility before I start treatment?
Will my treatment plan cause problems during pregnancy, labor, or delivery?
How long should I wait before trying to have a child?
How will trying to have a child affect my follow-up care plan?
Will trying to have a child increase my risk of recurrence? (Source: Cancer.net)