Pausing breast cancer treatment for pregnancy appears safe

Young women diagnosed with breast cancer often must delay pregnancy for years while they take hormone-blocking pills.

A reassuring new study finds they can take a two-year break from these drugs to get pregnant without raising their short-term risk of cancer coming back.

“This is really good news for young women and their doctors and their families,” said Dr. Ann Partridge of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who led the study. Results were being discussed Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Though more common in older women, breast cancer is increasingly diagnosed during childbearing years for reasons that aren’t clear.