Surgery for pregnancy-associated breast cancer

Abstract

Surgery in the form of both mastectomy and breast conservation is the main step in the treatment of breast cancer. Numerous studies have shown an equivalent long-term survival for breast conserving surgery (BCS) and mastectomy. Patients desire and tumor characteristics, especially size and multicentricity, are the key factors that affect the decision between these two types of surgery. Patients with any contraindication for radiotherapy or previous history of radiation to the breast field are not suitable for BCS. There are few absolute contraindications for BCS, and early pregnancy is listed among them; mastectomy is preferred in the first trimester of pregnancy to avoid the impact of delaying radiation therapy on outcome of the cancer.