Doctors at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center developed a treatment for a pregnant woman with breast cancer during her first trimester — a period in which patients are typically advised to abort their pregnancy if they are seeking care. 

The 32-year-old patient, Christina, was six weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer. Doctors at other institutions told her that she would have to terminate her pregnancy because receiving chemotherapy — using powerful drugs to kill cancer cells — during the first trimester would cause complications to her fetus. 

Previous studies showed that women who received chemotherapy during the first semester faced higher chances of miscarriages and birth defects. To avoid these complications, the maternal-fetal medicine team — which cares for high-risk pregnancies — and general oncology doctors created a plan to conduct a mastectomy to remove her cancer at the end of the first trimester before safely receiving chemotherapy in the second. 

Mary Gemignani, Chief of NYU Langone’s breast surgery division, told WSN that Christina found her own lump before being officially diagnosed at the hospital.

“My biggest concerns for Christina were delays in treatment, the risk of prematurity, and ensuring she received appropriate interventions on time,” Justin Brandt, director of maternal-fetal medicine division at the hospital, told WSN. “Pregnancy should not worsen long-term prognosis, and the patient can still safely continue the pregnancy.”

Christina delivered a healthy girl at the end of September and subsequently resumed her treatment with the NYU Langone doctors. 

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is found in one in 3,000 pregnant women, making it the most common type of cancer found during pregnancy. Over the last two decades, women under 45 have been diagnosed with breast cancer at a steady increase of roughly 0.7% per year. Young women often experience breast cancer diagnosis delays — which increases the risk of it becoming more deadly — because screening guidelines typically begin at age 40. 

“You have to learn to advocate,” Gemignani said. “If you feel a lump, that’s something that you shouldn’t just let go. You should bring it to the attention of your doctor and advocate for yourself if they’re not. It’s something that you’re never too young to have.”

Contact Ashlie West at [email protected].