ER/PR+ Ca. and invitro-artificial insemination pregnancy

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Good morning ladies!

I'd like to know if it's not indicated artificial pregnancy after a hormonal dependant breast Ca. or if there is no contraindication.

I'd like to hear the opinion and experiences of women who have gone to the same situation.

After having had a bilateral breast Ca. oestrogen, progesterone positive (stage IIA, 1 lympth node involvement, 1,3cm,grade2;the other DCIS no lympth nodes involved), bilateral mastectomy, chemo dense regime of AC+Taxol, nearly finishing it, 43 years old.

Would it be contraindicated to be pregnant due to hormonodependant breast Ca. by in vitro fertilization / artificial insemination? I think it would neccerary to have the ovaries stimulated by inyecting oestrogens. Would it be risky for the homonodepedent Ca. to grow or spread?

Oncologist says to take Tamoxifen for 5-10 years after chemo, so no pregnancy, can the treatment be posponed?

Any ideas, any experiencies?

Thank you very much in advance.

Comments

  • ccjj
    ccjj Member Posts: 128
    edited September 2013

    Rosa Aurora congrats on almost finishing your treatments! I'm not an expert on cancer dx and fertility treatments, but did do in vitro at age 38, 5 years prior to my cancer diagnosis. There are a lot of hormones involved and at times I wonder if it contributed to my dx.

    I could be wrong and suggest you speak to both your oncologist and a fertility expert, but I'm sorry to say that I don't think many would recommend perusing fertility treatment so soon after a hormone positive breast cancer diagnosis. A co worker had breast cancer in her late 20s, and they recommended she not peruse even natural pregnancy at all. She eventually did, but waited 6 years. Good luck.

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    Thanks ccjj. I really appreciate you took the time to reply. The idea was to have eggs frozen now, to keep them and then in about 3 years of Tamoxifen treatment to interrupt it and get pregnant. But no idea if all this could be too risky or not :)

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    Has anyone lived the same situation or know of someone? Could you share the story? Thanks!

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    Has anyone lived the same situation or know of someone? Could you share the story? Thanks!

  • nikola
    nikola Member Posts: 466
    edited September 2013

    I had IVF in 2003 and my son was born in 2004. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, er/pr positive.

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    nikola thanks. Sorry to hear you had Ca.after having had an IVF. I hope you're fine now. Please, could you tell me how old were you when diagnosed? Did you have a family history of Breast or ovarian Ca.? Do you think IVF had anything to do with it? You're 3 years survivor and will continue being so. I wish you all the best.

  • josgirl
    josgirl Member Posts: 231
    edited September 2013

    RosaAurora

    I am 34 and got diagnosed this summer.  I decided to freeze my eggs prior to chemo after talking with my onc and a fertility specialist in the area.  For the egg retrival there are a lot of hormones they put you on but for me they also put me on an estrogen inhibitor to minimize the estrogen in my system.  My onc says I CANNOT even try to get pregnant until 2 years on Tamoxifan and then even if successful I will still need to finish the 5years. 

    Please PM me this is a lot to try to explain.  Also check out Fertile Hope - it is a Livestong foundation that helps pay and support cancer patients who want to preserve their fertility.

    Hope this helps. 

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    Thank you josgirl for your reply. I wonder if there is any chance to have any ovules left after chemo to retrieve with IVF procedure. It couldn't be done before due to the urgency of surgery and chemo treatment.

  • Rosa_Aurora184161
    Rosa_Aurora184161 Member Posts: 73
    edited September 2013

    Still wondering if it's safe to interrupt Tamoxifen to get pregnant. Having a hormonal dependent breast Ca., grade2, 1 lympth node involved, premenopausic.

    Oncologist is very conservative and prefer not to stop Tamoxifen for 10 years, due to an international study, ATLAS, which concluded that taking Tamoxifen for 10 years was better than for 5 years in preventing Ca. recurrences.But after 10 years it'd be too late to be pregnant.

    Oncologist is worried about not being protected by Tamoxifen during pregnancy (9 months-1 year) than for being pregnant.

    Was/is anyone in the same situation? What did you do? or What are you going to do? What is/was your oncologist opinion? Thanks.

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