Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Systems Biology of Metabolic Regulation by Estrogen Receptor Signaling in Breast Cancer
Published on: March 17, 2016
Receptor status of breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy: A literature review
Carsten F J Bakhuis1, Britt B M Suelmann1, Carmen van Dooijeweert2
1Department of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
The definition of PABC is inconsistently given as either breast cancer diagnosed exclusively during pregnancy, or combined with breast cancer diagnosed within six months to five years after delivery, and sometimes even longer. The longer away from the delivery date breast cancer is diagnosed, the less clear this association with pregnancy may become. Therefore, breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy (BCdP) may not necessarily be the same disease entity as PABC. This review aims to provide an overview of BCdP receptor status, as this has not been assessed before. BCdP tumors were predominantly ER negative (56.6 %), PR negative (57.2 %) or both ER and PR negative (47.9 %). Moreover, HER2-overexpression was seen in 33.2 % of BCdP patients and 27.6 % had triple negative disease. This predominantly ER and PR negative profile with more often HER2 overexpression is aggressive and distinct from non-pregnant similar-aged patients, warranting future comparative research.
The definition of PABC is inconsistently given as either breast cancer diagnosed exclusively during pregnancy, or combined with breast cancer diagnosed within six months to five years after delivery, and sometimes even longer. The longer away from the delivery date breast cancer is diagnosed, the less clear this association with pregnancy may become. Therefore, breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy (BCdP) may not necessarily be the same disease entity as PABC. This review aims to provide an overview of BCdP receptor status, as this has not been assessed before. BCdP tumors were predominantly ER negative (56.6 %), PR negative (57.2 %) or both ER and PR negative (47.9 %). Moreover, HER2-overexpression was seen in 33.2 % of BCdP patients and 27.6 % had triple negative disease. This predominantly ER and PR negative profile with more often HER2 overexpression is aggressive and distinct from non-pregnant similar-aged patients, warranting future comparative research.

