Mother's breast cancer type may affect newborn health status

For breast cancer survivors, the risk of giving birth prematurely may depend on the type of breast cancer they had.

This is according to a new study from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, US.

The researchers analysed health indicators for children born to young breast cancer survivors in North Carolina, evaluating whether newborns were born preterm (less than 37 weeks), if they were below normal weight, small for gestational age, or if they were born through a Caesarean delivery.

Overall, they found that there was no increase in the prevalence of preterm birth, C-section, small for gestational age, or low birth weight for newborns across all breast cancer types.

However, when they examined the data by breast cancer type, researchers found there was increased risk of preterm birth, low birth weight and C-section delivery for women who had had oestrogen receptor-negative breast cancer.

They explained that further studies will be required to confirm their finding.