Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer: A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge

Abstract

Pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) is commonly defined as a breast cancer occurring during pregnancy, throughout 1 year postpartum, or during lactation. Despite being a rare circumstance, PABC is one of the most common types of malignancies occurring during pregnancy and lactation, with growing incidence in developed countries, due both to decreasing age at onset of breast cancer and to increasing maternal age. Diagnosis and management of malignancy in the prenatal and postnatal settings are challenging for practitioners, as the structural and functional changes that the breast undergoes may be misleading for both the radiologist and the clinician. Furthermore, safety concerns for the mother and child, as well as psychological aspects in this unique and delicate condition, need to be constantly considered. In this comprehensive review, clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of PABC (including surgery, chemotherapy and other systemic treatments, and radiotherapy) are presented and fully discussed, based on medical literature, current international clinical guidelines, and systematic practice.

Unveiling the Role of Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A (PAPP-A) in Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer: A Comprehensive Review

“…The aggressive nature of PABC is underscored by factors such as the relatively young age of diagnosis, advanced tumor staging, and a heightened prevalence of hormone receptor negativity [ 14 ]. The diagnosis and subsequent management of PABC present considerable challenges, stemming from the imperative to safeguard both maternal and fetal well-being, alongside addressing the psychological ramifications inherent to this distinct condition [ 15 ]. Timely assessment and intervention by healthcare providers are essential to circumvent delays linked to poorer prognoses associated with PABC [ 15 ].…”

miR-125 in Breast Cancer Etiopathogenesis: An Emerging Role as a Biomarker in Differential Diagnosis, Regenerative Medicine, and the Challenges of Personalized Medicine

“…Certain female reproductive factors, such as younger age at menarche, low parity, late menopause, and older age at first full-term pregnancy, may influence BC risk through long-term effects on sex hormone levels or by other biological mechanisms, although recent studies suggest that triple negative BC may have a distinct etiology [ 7 ]. Over the past decades, the incidence of pregnancy-associated BC (PABC) has been on the rise as well [ 8 ]. Lastly, having extremely dense breast tissue is also significantly associated with increased BC risk compared to having scattered dense breast tissue [ 9 ].…”

An uncommon case of metastatic undifferentiated pleomorphic soft tissue sarcoma during pregnancy: Literature review and case report

“…The most common types of pregnancy associated cancer (PAC) are breast cancer, melanoma, cervical cancer, lymphomas and leukemias [2] .…”