Foetuses not affected by chemotherapy, say researchers

Cancer treatment during pregnancy is not harmful to the baby, according to the results of a study released by a team of researchers from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). Oncologist Frédéric Amant, who led the research project, will present 10 years’ of data this week during an international congress at the university focusing on cancer during pregnancy and with regards to infertility issues.

Doctors continue to be hesitatant in recommending chemotherapy to pregnant women, leaving them with a difficult decision. Amant and his team have demonstrated that chemotherapy does not put the health of the foetus at risk because it is protected by the placenta. The treatment also doesn’t affect the development of children after they are born.

PhD student Sileny Han will also present her research at the symposium, which shows that pregnant women have an equal chance of surviving breast cancer as non-pregnant women if they receive treatment at an early enough stage. Han compared the data of 311 pregnant women with those of 865 non-pregnant women with breast cancer.

photo courtesy Uitgeverij Van Halewyck