An article in USA Today outlines how pregnancy can increase the risk of developing breast cancer in women. One-third of all breast cancer cases in women under the age of 45 fall into the category of postpartum breast cancer, which is also referred to as pregnancy-associated breast cancer. Researchers believe that women might already have the breast cancer cells in their body, and the hormones naturally produced by a woman's body during the pregnancy can trigger an early onset of the disease. Doctor's don't fully understand this phenomenon, but have discovered that a woman's risk for pregnancy goes up in the first 5 years after giving birth.
The good news is that postpartum breast cancer falls into a subcategory of breast cancers that is responding well to a new drug called Herceptin. Doctors have found that dealing with postpartum breast cancer patients is difficult, but with the new drug their chances of success are going up.
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