Cancer

Can Women with Breast Cancer Safely Pause Treatment to Have a Baby?

Jasmine C

19 Jul 2025 — 1 min read

Pregnancy, doctor Pregnant woman

What Did the Research Discover?

Researchers studied whether women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer could safely pause their endocrine therapy to try to get pregnant. This treatment is usually taken for 5 to 10 years to lower the risk of cancer coming back, but pregnancy is not recommended during this time.

The study followed 516 women under 42 years old who had been on endocrine therapy for 18 to 30 months and wanted to have a baby. Of the 497 women tracked for pregnancy, 74% became pregnant, and 64% gave birth. In total, 365 babies were born.

After a follow-up period of about 3.4 years, 44 women (8.9%) had their cancer return. This rate was similar to women who stayed on their treatment, meaning that pausing therapy did not appear to increase short-term cancer risk. The study’s safety goal was to stay below 46 cancer recurrences, and the results met this goal.

How Can I Apply This Information?

This study suggests that pausing endocrine therapy to try to have a baby does not seem to increase short-term cancer risk for women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. However, long-term follow-up is still needed to understand the full risks.

Women considering pregnancy after breast cancer should discuss options with their oncologist and fertility specialist. Medical monitoring is essential before, during, and after pregnancy. Many women in the study resumed endocrine therapy after giving birth, which remains an important step in reducing future cancer risk.

These findings provide hope for women who want children after breast cancer, but every case is unique. Working with a medical team is the best way to make a safe and informed decision.

Source:

Partridge AH, Niman SM, Ruggeri M, Peccatori FA, Azim Jr HA, Colleoni M, Saura C, Shimizu C, Sætersdal AB, Kroep JR, Mailliez A. Interrupting endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy after breast cancer. New England journal of medicine. 2023 May 4;388(18):1645-56. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2212856?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

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