BCO Podcast: Pausing Hormonal Therapy Treatment to Have a Child

Pausing Hormonal Therapy Treatment to Have a Child: The POSITIVE Trial, March 24, 2017

Ann Partridge, M.D., MPH., is founder and director of the Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer and the Adult Survivorship Program, as well as senior physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a medical oncologist focusing on the care of women with breast cancer and has a particular interest in the psychosocial, behavioral and communication issues in breast cancer care and treatment.

Dr. Partridge is also the lead investigator of the U.S. arm of the POSITIVE trial. This study is looking at whether premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive disease who stop taking hormonal therapy after about 1.5 to 2.5 years of treatment to get pregnant have a higher risk of the breast cancer coming back, which doctors call recurrence. Most women diagnosed with hormone receptor positive disease take hormonal therapy for 5 to 10 years after surgery. In the POSITIVE trial, the women who want to get pregnant are stopping hormonal therapy for up to 2 years to become pregnant, deliver the baby and breastfeed. The women then start hormonal therapy again.

Listen to the podcast to hear Dr. Partridge talk about:

• why the researchers decided to do this study
• the safeguards the study has in place so a developing baby won't be harmed by the hormonal therapy medicine
• other safety concerns associated with stopping hormonal therapy to get pregnant besides recurrence risk

The POSITIVE trial is currently recruiting participants. If you are a premenopausal woman who has been diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer and have been taking hormonal therapy medicine for fewer than 2 years and are interested in participating in the study, visit the ClinicalTrials.gov page for complete details. You also can call Dr. Partridge's office at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center at 617-632-3800 to discuss participating in the study.

Running time: 27:09

Visit the Fertility and Pregnancy Issues During and After Breast Cancer section for more information on pregnancy after treatment.