Management of pregnancy associated breast cancer with chemotherapy in a developing country

•The use of chemotherapy in our series for pregnancy associated breast cancer was successful with resulting healthy babies.•Chemotherapy was done from the second trimeater.•The choice of drugs were doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide administered by a slow infusion protocol.•The babies did not require ICU care.•Breast conservation was successfully used in one of the cases who is clinically disease free 5 years post diagnosis.

ABSTRACTContextAlthough breast cancer is a common cancer, Pregnancy associated breast cancer is uncommon. Adjuvant chemotherapy administered intrapartum has been resolved to be safe from the second trimester.ObjectiveTo review cases of pregnancy associated breast cancer managed with adjuvant intrapartum chemotherapy.Patients and methodGravid patients diagnosed with breast cancer had chemotherapy administered by a slow infusion protocol at 3 weekly interval from the second trimester till 4 weeks to expected date of delivery. Obstetric scans were done to monitor fetal growth and development. Requisite surgery was carried out intrapartum and postpartum.ResultsThere were three cases of pregnancy associated breast cancer Age range 32–33 years, mean 32.5 years. Two cases presented in the second trimester while one presented in the third trimester. The second case had overt metastatic disease and was grave in respiratory distress. Histology showed invasive lobular carcinoma in two cases and extensive intraductal carcinoma with invasive component in the third. Immunohistochemistry showed triple negative in the first case and hormone positive in the third case. Wide local excision was done for a 3 cm lump in the first case and mastectomy postpartum in the third case. but had no surgery. Doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide was administered three weekly from the second trimester up to 32 weeks and continued postpartum. Taxanes was administered afterwards. The grave clinical state of the second case was markedly improved with the first cycle of chemotherapy instituted. All cases had spontaneous vaginal delivery with good apgar scores. Children had normal developmental milestones. First case with breast conservation is clinically disease free, the second case demised postpartum from disease progression while the third had a mastectomy and is on cue for radiotherapy.ConclusionAdjuvant intrapartum chemotherapy had a successful outcome with birth of normal babies with normal developmental milestones in our miniseries.