The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy or soon after giving birth has more than doubled since the 1960s, and researchers say cases will continue to rise as women have children later in life. The incidence of pregnancy-associated breast cancer rose from 16 in every 100,000 deliveries to 37.4 per 100,000 deliveries between 1963 and 2002, a study has found. Breast cancer was under-diagnosed in pregnant and breastfeeding women because they and their doctors assumed breast firmness or lumps were a normal part of childbearing, said the chief executive of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, Helen Zorbas. She urged health professionals to assess all women the same way, regardless of pregnancy. ”While most breast changes won’t be cancer, early detection is vital for improving survival.” Although pregnancy does not cause breast cancer, hormonal changes can accelerate its growth and tumours in pregnant women are often larger and more advanced by the time they are detected than those in women who are not pregnant. The disease poses a dilemma for patients and their doctors. Pregnant women can have surgery but not radiotherapy. And chemotherapy is allowed only after the first trimester. The study, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, reviewed more than 4.1 million deliveries in Sweden between 1963 and 2002. The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found the largest proportion of pregnancy-related breast cancers was among 25- to 29-year-olds. But because the breast cancer risk rose with age and the average age of mothers had increased to about 30, its incidence during pregnancy was likely to increase, the institute said. Source PregnancyWeekly.com

Original Source of Pregnant women confront rise in cancer cases