You can be diagnosed with cancer at any point in your life, even when you are pregnant. Breast cancer during pregnancy has to be dealt with extra care as you have to be given the best treatment to eradicate cancer while also protecting your baby from the side-effects of any such treatment.
While all the natural causes of cancer could be the reason for the occurrence of the disease, there are certain factors related to pregnancy that could cause breast cancer. Here are a few causes of the disease
The signs of breast cancer can be easily mistaken for other symptoms that are common during pregnancy. You can ask your doctor to keep an eye out for the following signs that could be indicative of breast cancer.
In most cases, cancer is not detected in the early stages of the pregnancy as the various hormonal changes in pregnancy will cause the breast to look different in any case. As the body prepares itself for the pregnancy, the tissue in the breast becomes denser. This makes it harder to detect and diagnose any small tumours.
Doctors are usually aware of a problem only when the cancerous tissue becomes big enough to notice. A regular mammogram is not recommended as the radiation could cause harm to the developing foetus. Only after the mother-to-be crosses the first trimester is a diagnostic mammogram allowed along with a shield to protect the baby.
You might be wondering what you can do to catch the onset of cancer early enough to give you a good chance of beating cancer without endangering the health of your baby.
The best approach is to check your breasts and surrounding regions, particularly the underarms, daily. You can do this yourself or ask your partner to help you with hard-to-reach areas. If you see any signs of lumps in the tissue, then do not hesitate to bring it to your doctor’s attention.
If your doctor finds that there is reason enough or signs of breast cancer, then he/she will either recommend a mammogram based on how far your pregnancy has progressed or suggest other imaging tests. Once the lump has been located, it then has to be identified as a benign or malignant one.
If the lump is deemed cancerous then knowing what stage of breast cancer you have will affect the method or line of treatment greatly. One of the major factors in determining what stage the cancer is in is how far the cancerous cells have spread to the lymph if at all. The other factors include the size of the tumour, if the cancer is invasive or not, and if cancer has spread beyond the breast.
If the breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the first option most oncologists will recommend is surgery, whether the patient is pregnant or not. This surgery poses no risk to the developing baby, though if the surgery is planned in the last trimester, then the OB/GYN will be present to monitor the health of the baby.
Please note that surgery is only recommended if the cancer is detected in its early stages and is located within the breast or the lymph nodes in the underarm.
Anaesthesia has been known to cross the placenta and to the foetus. This does not appear to cause any birth defects to the baby or any other type of pregnancy issues. You can discuss this concern with your surgeon and gynaecologist to allay any other fears you might have. Since you are pregnant, the surgeons will move quickly on the operating table to ensure that you and your baby are not under anaesthesia for too long.
The treatment for breast cancer will depend entirely upon the stage of cancer you have been diagnosed with. Usually, if the cancer is detected early enough, the first line of treatment is surgery.
Sometimes the best treatment plan for the mother might not be the healthiest option for the foetus. Since there are many variable factors with such a medical condition, you will need the expert advice of your gynaecologist, surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist to zero in on a treatment plan that will help you the most.
One of the most worrisome concerns most mothers-to-be with breast cancer have is that the breast cancer and pregnancy could affect one another; specifically, that cancer could harm the baby adversely. There has been no known instance of breast cancer spreading to the developing baby. However, in some rare cases, the cancer cells could spread to the placenta as well.
While a pregnancy on its own can be fraught with anxieties and worries, a pregnancy with breast cancer (pregnancy breast cancer) can make things much more complicated. Remember to check yourself for lumps and tell your doctor about your concerns, so that you can work together to come up with a treatment plan that keeps the stage of cancer, stage of pregnancy, and your personal medical history in mind.