Cancer and pregnancy management and options

Could more cancer patients consider having a family?

Progress in diagnosing and treating cancer patients is accelerating. Cancer Research UK recently announced that “half of new UK cancer patients can expect to live for another decade.” This means having a family is now within reach for many more individuals, requiring a different approach to disease management, which takes into account important aspects such as fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and…

Tough decisions, positive outcomes: cancer & life priorities

Did your cancer diagnosis change your life priorities? Faces of Courage and Hope tells a positive story of how chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the white blood cells, changes lives in a series of photo stories. The recently published book depicts the inspiring journey of 16 European CML patients, including a Portuguese woman’s experience through two pregnancies. The…

Fighting for two: cancer and pregnancy [Documentary]

Twelve years ago, when Caroline Swain’s son Max was still a baby, she noticed a lump on her breast and the worst was confirmed – she had breast cancer. This in itself was already a big change in her life. But then she found out that she was 5 weeks pregnant. It took a forward-looking medical team, a supportive family,…

Coping with breast cancer in pregnancy: an ongoing study

After being diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant eight years ago, Janne Rodsten is now studying for a professional doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK. In connection with her final thesis, due for submission in 2016, she will be carrying out a formal study into women’s experience of pregnancy-associated breast cancer.…

One step closer to pregnancy post-cancer

For young women facing chemotherapy as part of a range of treatments for breast cancer, the question of fertility post-treatment is of particular concern. But the results of a phase III clinical trial mean that women might be able to have their cancer treated, and still go on to have children. Watch the video interview with Dr. Halle Moore The…

Cancer and pregnancy: what mothers have to say

Behind the complex web of ethics, legislation and emotion that surrounds drug use during pregnancy are many personal stories. And sometimes, it’s easy to forget that for every academic, theoretical debate over whether or not to treat a pregnant patient, there’s a real person at the center of this discussion. But there are places that celebrate these women and the…

Pregnancy and cancer awareness week launched by charity

UK charity Mummy’s Star is running a cancer and pregnancy awareness week to highlight the devastation caused by the illness. Set up in 2013, Mummy’s Star supports families affected by cancer during pregnancy and those who receive a cancer diagnosis within a year of a birth. Pete Wallroth created the charity after tragedy hit his own family and his wife,…