AccScience Publishing / CP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/CP026330050
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REVIEW ARTICLE

Safety and effectiveness of chemotherapy in pregnant women with breast cancer: A systematic review

Alexios Tsochrinis1 ,  Panagiota Pappou1 ,  Kleanthi Gourounti1 ,  Ermioni Palaska1 ,  Anna Deltsidou1 ,  Giannoula Kyrkou1 ,  Panagiotis Tsikouras2 ,  Nikolaos Tsikouras2 ,  Angeliki Bolou1 ,  Athina Diamanti1 ,  Anastasia Bothou1*
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1 Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, Athens , Greece
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis , Greece
Received: 12 August 2026 | Revised: 9 September 2026 | Accepted: 20 September 2026 | Published online: 14 October 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Breast cancer during pregnancy presents unique therapeutic challenges, as effective maternal treatment must be balanced against potential risks to fetal and neonatal health. This systematic review aims to evaluate current evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of chemotherapy during pregnancy in women with breast cancer (BC). This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Open Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research databases. Following the search and selection process, a total of 14 articles met the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was assessed using design-specific Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. The administration of specific chemotherapy regimens, mainly anthracyclines, after the first trimester was generally not associated with an apparent increase in congenital abnormalities or perinatal mortality. However, an increased risk of preterm birth was observed, with a substantial proportion of preterm deliveries being iatrogenic. Furthermore, available comparative evidence did not indicate substantially worse maternal oncological outcomes attributable to pregnancy itself. Taken together, these findings suggest that chemotherapy for BC during pregnancy can be administered with relative safety after the first trimester, within an individualized treatment approach and close collaboration among obstetricians, oncologists, and neonatologists. Nevertheless, further multicenter studies are required to fully elucidate long-term neonatal outcomes.

Keywords
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer
Antineoplastic agents
Prenatal exposure delayed effects
Maternal-fetal outcome
Congenital abnormalities
Preterm birth
Treatment outcome
Gestational age
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Cancer Plus, Electronic ISSN: 2661-3840 Print ISSN: 2661-3832, Published by AccScience Publishing