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Recent childbirth reduced OS in melanoma, breast cancer
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Women who gave birth within a year before melanoma or breast cancer diagnosis had lower survival rates, study results showed.
The researchers used England’s national cancer registration, as well as hospital discharge data, from 1998 to 2007 to identify women with melanoma, breast cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma who had given birth prior to their diagnosis.
After adjustments for age, researchers determined gestation and childbirth within a year prior to diagnosis was associated with reduced survival in women with melanoma (HR=2.06; 95% CI, 1.42-3.01) and breast cancer (HR=1.84; 95% CI, 1.64-2.06). Among women with breast cancer, the association peaked at 2 years but remained elevated for up to 8 years.
Adjustments for tumor stage had only slight effects on the association.
Researchers found no association found between recent childbirth and survival among women diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“Melanoma and breast cancer prognosis are adversely affected by recent gestation and childbirth in a way that is not due to stage of the cancer, but rather to inherent biological properties of the tumors,” the researchers wrote. “Possible biological mechanisms include immunosuppression (melanoma), the hormonal milieu in gestation, and a tumor promoting microenvironment post-partum (breast cancer).”
Disclosure: Researchers report funding from the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.
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