Although pregnancy may conceal breast cancer in younger women and lead to a delay in diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment, pregnancy-associated breast cancers are not associated with a worse outcome compared to nonpregnancy-associated breast cancers, according to research published online Feb. 9 in 

Beth M. Beadle, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed breast cancer-related outcomes among women with pregnancy- and non-pregnancy-associated malignancies. A total of 652 women (aged 35 years or younger) were included, with a median follow-up of 114 months. 

Compared to women with nonpregnancy-associated breast cancers, women with pregnancy-associated tumors did not significantly differ in their 10-year rates of locoregional recurrence (23.4% for women with pregnancy-associated tumors vs. 19.2% for women with nonpregnancy-associated tumors), distant metastases (45.1% vs. 38.9%) and overall survival (64.6% vs. 64.8%), the researchers report. In pregnant women, any treatment intervention taken during pregnancy improved the trend for overall survival compared with delaying treatment until after delivery, the authors note.  

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Although pregnancy may conceal breast cancer in younger women, survival statistics are similar.