Pregnancy is safe for women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer

New research shows, for the first time, that it is safe for women who have been diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer to be pregnant, despite doctors' previous fears that pregnancy could boost levels of estrogen in the body and cause the cancer to return. In fact, the findings, presented today at the eighth European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8) in Vienna, suggest that becoming pregnant  following breast cancer does not increase the risk of recurrence, even if the pregnancy occurs during the first two years after the diagnosis. Furthermore, patients who become pregnant appear to survive longer than those who do not. Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women during their childbearing years.