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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Breast Cancer

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1656429

Pregnancy after breast cancer treatment in young patients

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Division of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction Breast cancer (BC) treatments can impair fertility in young women, causing considerable distress and potentially influencing treatment decisions, yet comprehensive real-world data on pregnancy outcomes after BC remain limited. This study aims to provide comprehensive real-world data on pregnancy following BC treatment to guide clinical practice and patient counseling. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using medical records from a single tertiary medical center in South Korea. The study included 995 premenopausal women aged 18 to 40 years who were diagnosed with stage 0–III BC between December 2010 and September 2020. The primary outcomes included post-treatment pregnancy rates, factors associated with subsequent pregnancy, timing of conception, pregnancy outcomes, and oncologic outcomes among those who conceived. Results The median age was 32 years (interquartile range [IQR], 30–34 years). Of 995 patients, 115 had at least one pregnancy after their BC diagnosis. Significant differences in pregnancy rates and the interval from BC treatment to pregnancy were observed according to hormone receptor status and pregnancy history prior to BC diagnosis. Among those who conceived, 46.1% discontinued endocrine therapy (ET) to achieve pregnancy. Following BC treatment, pregnancies were observed in 7.8% of women who were >35 years old at diagnosis, 17.8% of women who were unmarried at diagnosis, and 6.8% of women who already had children. Of the 76 patients who discontinued ET to attempt pregnancy, 53 (69.7%) successfully conceived. Among those who achieved pregnancy after ET discontinuation, four patients (7.5%) experienced cancer recurrence. Discussion Effective fertility preservation counseling is necessary for patients of reproductive age with BC, regardless of age, marital status, or whether they had children before BC diagnosis. This study can be referenced to appropriately address and manage the impact of chemotherapy and ET on pregnancy after BC treatment.

Keywords: Breast cacner, Pregnanacy, Fertility Preservation, Endocrine therapy, Young patient

Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lee, Yoo, Lee, Kim, Chung, Ko, Lee, Son, Kim and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hee Jeong Kim, Division of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

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