The question of how pregnancy affects cancer has been debated for decades.

Histo
rically, it was thought that higher levels of the female hormone oestrogen, whic
h occur during pregnancy, might increase the aggressiveness of cancers that can
be hormone-dependent, such as breast and ovarian cancer, and also malignant mela
noma. Other changes that occur during pregnancy, including suppression of the im
mune system and increased vascularisation, might also have adverse effects on tu
mour development.
Some previous studies have suggested decreased survival in women with breast can
cer or malignant melanoma diagnosed during, or shortly after, pregnancy. However
, results have been contradictory.
The impact of pregnancy and lactation on survival from cancer is becoming increa
singly important as women have children at an older age, and cancer incidence al
so increases with age. In Norway, more than half of all pregnancies now occur in
women aged 30 to 49 years, compared with 24% in 1967. The rate of cancer in thi
s age group is also increasing - so there are growing numbers of women who are d
iagnosed with cancer during pregnancy or lactation.
The aim of this article is to determine the significance of early detection of P
ABC and to alert healthcare providers to include PABC in the differential diagno
sis when evaluating a breast mass in the perinatal period.
epidemiologi
faktor resiko
morbiditas dan mortalitas
How pregnancy affects breast cancer risk later in life
Pregnancy causes many hormone changes in the body. For one thing, pregnancy stop
s the monthly menstrual cycles and shifts the hormone balance toward progesteron
e rather than estrogen. This is why women who go through a pregnancy while they
are young may have a slightly lower risk of breast cancer later on. Women who ha
ve had no children or who had their first pregnancy after age 30 have a slightly
higher breast cancer risk later in life.