Breast Cancer that was detected during Pregnancy / 대한산부인과학회잡지

The pregnancy-associated breast cancer is one of the most common malignancy developed during pregnant period and occupies 1-2% of the all breast cancer patients. There is no evidence to implicate pregnancy or lactation in either the etiology and the progression of breast cancer. Careful breast examination early in the pregnancy is very important to find solid masses before breast engorgement hides them. But unfortunately, delay in the diagnosis is common and most of patients with operable primary lesions have positive axillary lymph nodes. The treatment of choice is the modified radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. The authors report a patient of breast cancer diagnosed and treated during pregnancy with review of literature.