Breast cancer and fertility

More and more cancers and delayed childbearing

You can be diagnosed with breast cancer at any age. At present more than 10,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in Belgium. The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer is in fact growing while at the same time there is a tendency for women to conceive their first child at a later age. ​ The result is that more and more women face a breast cancer diagnosis when they do not yet have children but have a strong desire to be pregnant. Faced with this situation there was an absence of any clear scientific answer that could be given to patients: Is it possible to cease treatment without running an excessive risk? Is it possible to conceive a child? Under what conditions? As Professor Martine Piccart, head of Scientific Research at the Jules Bordet Institute, explains "Research linked to pregnancy after breast cancer is limited. Achieving research progress on this subject and obtaining clear answers for all women who want to conceive despite having breast cancer is of capital importance!"

The POSITIVE study ​  

For all these women who want to have a child, the POSITIVE study is seeking to provide the answers. Conducted by the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) under the aegis of the Breast International Group (BIG) in 20 countries, and with the close involvement of the Jules Bordet Institute, the study is monitoring 518 women aged between 30 and 40 with early stage hormonal breast cancer who want to become pregnant. Hormonal breast cancer means that estrogen receptors are present in the cancer cells, acting as "antennae" with the result that cancer cells are fed by estrogens. This is the case for two thirds of women diagnosed with breast cancer. The recommended treatment in this case is hormone therapy plus surgery and radiotherapy and sometimes chemotherapy. Hormone therapy is totally incompatible with pregnancy. The study is therefore seeking to observe the effects of ceasing hormone therapy for 24 months during which the patient can conceive a child and then resume treatment. At this stage of the study, which began in 2014, more than 300 babies have been born. The study is continuing by observing the effects of a long-term (10 years) interruption of hormone therapy. ​

The initial results, with a median follow up of 41 months, will be presented at the Congress in San Antonio in the United States in December.

A topical subject of pertinence to society that affects many women

 Sandra is being treated for breast cancer at the Jules Bordet Institute. She explains: "I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. As it was caught quite early, I had no doubt that I would recover. What was hardest for me, on the other hand, was fear of not being able to have children. Although it was quite an obstacle course as some of my ovaries had to be frozen, I became pregnant with my first child. Despite a second breast cancer a few years later, I was also able to have a second child. The message I would like to convey to all these women who face the very difficult experience of a cancer is to remain optimistic, positive and believe in science: today there are many solutions for being able to conceive a child, despite the illness." The artist Simona B. sought to express this same message of hope in creating a photographic work in which the stars are the women and children who are fighting or have fought breast cancer. ​ (Photo attached). A work full of optimism and joy that today has pride of place in a corridor in the area where patients attend for consultations at the Jules Bordet Institute. ​

The POSITIVE study is sponsored by the BCSG and has benefitted from major financial support from the Baillet Latour Fund.