Study shows pregnancy doesn't worsen breast cancer

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Pregnant women who

develop breast cancer have no difference in odds of death compared to other

young breast cancer patients, said a study published Monday in the journal

Cancer.

The study is one of the largest to examine whether

breast cancer hits pregnant women harder than other women. It contradicted some

smaller, earlier studies that suggested maternity made things worse.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from 652

women ages 35 and younger who were treated for breast cancer at the University

of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1973 through 2006.

The result showed that rates of cancer recurrence,

cancer spread and survival were normally the same for the women with

pregnancy-associated breast cancers and other young women with the disease.

"Breast cancer in young women is a highly aggressive

disease, and it's important that we study it in hopes of making a difference in

terms of treatment," said the study's lead author, Dr. Beth Beadle of

the center.

It's estimated that up to 3.8 percent of pregnancies

are complicated by breast cancer, and approximately 10 percent of breast cancer

patients under age 40 develop the disease during pregnancy, said the

researchers.

M. D. Anderson has a long history of being at the

forefront of treating pregnant women for breast cancer.

(Agencies)