Gestational breast cancer: a ten-year experience.

During the period 1973 to 1983, eight pregnant women were treated for breast cancer at Richland Memorial Hospital. These patients were compared with 36 nonpregnant premenopausal women with breast cancer treated at the same institution. Pregnant patients averaged two years older than the nonpregnant patients. Five of eight pregnant patients had stage I breast cancer, which compared favorably with the nonpregnant group. Seven patients carried their pregnancy to term. Seven of eight patients in the gestational group are alive after four to 14 years, an 87.5% survival, with an average follow-up of 90 months. These data indicate no major differences in survival between pregnant and nonpregnant women with similar stages of breast cancer.