INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in the United States, with more than 300,000 new cases expected this year. About 15 percent will be triple-negative, a fast-moving form that does not respond to hormone therapies and often requires aggressive treatment. For some women, there’s another layer of complexity — they’re pregnant.
At 21 weeks pregnant, Arlene Brown was recording little moments for the baby she’d been dreaming about while preparing for a fight she never saw coming.
“I remember being in the shower, and I felt a lump,” Brown said.
Cancer was already a shadow in her family. Her grandmother, sisters, and aunts all had it. Arlene has a BRCA1 gene mutation that put her at high risk, but she didn’t expect triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form with fewer targeted treatments and one terrifying question.
“I hope they don’t make me make a choice,” Brown said.
Her doctor says many women think treatment has to wait until after delivery. It doesn’t.
“We can give chemotherapy during pregnancy, and we can do it very safely,” said Rani Bansal, MD, Breast Medical Oncologist at Duke Cancer Center.
Brown started chemo in her second trimester with OB and oncology teams at Duke working side by side.
“Even though I went through the most horrific chemotherapy anybody has, it does not breach the placenta, which is still like magical to me,” Brown said.
Doctors induced at 35 weeks.
After delivery, treatments intensified.
“She actually received more chemotherapy and then received her immunotherapy, and then she went on after she finished that to have her surgery and then have radiation,” Dr. Bansal said.
Her husband, Richard, said his role never changed.
“Your role is to be the cheerleader. There are moments where all you need to do is be there to say that it’s going to be okay,” he said.
Today, Brown is not just a survivor. She’s a mom with a baby and a story to share, and this story definitely has a happy ending.
Duke doctors say breast cancer during pregnancy is uncommon. They also say immunotherapy and some targeted drugs are typically held until after delivery because there’s still limited safety data in pregnancy. Brown is now cancer-free but will still need to be checked for cancer every few months.
