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Pregnancy Outcome and Safety of Interrupting Therapy for Women With Endocrine Responsive Breast Cancer

A Study Evaluating the Pregnancy Outcomes and Safety of Interrupting Endocrine Therapy for Young Women With Endocrine Responsive Breast Cancer Who Desire Pregnancy

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02308085
Acronym
POSITIVE
Enrollment
518
Registered
2014-12-04
Start date
2014-12-04
Completion date
2028-12-01
Last updated
2026-02-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Early Breast Cancer

Keywords

Premenopausal, endocrine responsive, Breast, Pregnancy

Brief summary

The best available evidence suggests that pregnancy after breast cancer does not increase a woman's risk of developing a recurrence from her breast cancer. In particular, the most recent data suggest that this is the case also in women with a hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. There is also no indication of increased risk for delivery complications or for the newborn. The aim of the study is to investigate if temporary interruption of endocrine therapy, with the goal to permit pregnancy, is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer recurrence.The study aims also to evaluate different specific indicators related to fertility, pregnancy and breast cancer biology in young women. A psycho-oncological companion study on fertility concerns, psychological well-being and decisional conflicts will be conducted in interested Centers.

Detailed description

Recent decades have witnessed a delay in childbearing for a variety of reasons including cultural, educational, and professional. As a consequence, breast cancer in young women often occurs before the completion of reproductive plans. Infertility has a significant impact on quality of life, resulting in substantial distress in younger women with breast cancer and influencing treatment decisions in a consistent proportion of patients.The best available evidence suggests that pregnancy after breast cancer does not increase a woman's risk of developing a recurrence.For women desiring pregnancy after a breast cancer, 5-10 years of endocrine therapy may substantially reduce the chance of conception; however, a shorter duration of endocrine therapy in this population has not been studied in a prospective manner. Birth outcome after breast cancer has not been shown to be different from that of the normal population, but increased risks of delivery complications, cesarean section, preterm birth and low birth weight have been reported. Endocrine agents are potentially teratogenic: taking into account their median half-life, waiting 3 months after their interruption before attempting conception is considered safe. The limited evidence available on breastfeeding after breast cancer reports successful lactation from the treated breast in approximately 30% of women without detrimental effect on survival. No prospective definitive data are available.

Interventions

OTHEREndocrine therapy interruption

3 months wash-out between treatment interruption and pregnancy attempt. Up to 2 years interruption to allow pregnancy, delivery, breastfeeding or failure to conceive. Endocrine therapy resumption. Completion of full duration of endocrine therapy according to individual risk, institutional policy or patient's preference.

Sponsors

ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation
Lead SponsorNETWORK
Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
CollaboratorOTHER
Canadian Cancer Trials Group
CollaboratorNETWORK
Breast International Group
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 42 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥ 18 and ≤ 42 years at enrollment. * Has received adjuvant endocrine therapy (SERM alone, GnRH analogue plus SERM or AI) for ≥18 months but ≤30 months for early breast cancer. Note: Patients who have received neo/adjuvant endocrine treatment within a clinical trial and patients who have received pharmaco-prevention are eligible. * The adjuvant endocrine therapy must have stopped within 1 month prior to enrollment. * Patient wishes to become pregnant. Note: Patients who have undergone oocyte/embryo/ovarian tissue cryopreservation at breast cancer diagnosis and/or have a previous history of assisted reproductive technology (ART) are eligible. * Breast cancer for which patient is receiving endocrine therapy must have been histologically-proven stage I-III, endocrine-responsive (i.e., estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive, according to local definition of positive, determined using immunohistochemistry (IHC)), and treated with curative intent. Note: * Patients with synchronous bilateral invasive breast cancer (diagnosed histologically within 2 months) are eligible. * Patient with invasive breast cancer or synchronous bilateral invasive breast cancer (diagnosed histologically within 2 months) during pregnancy are eligible. * Patients with BRCA1/2 mutations are eligible. * Patients could have received neo/adjuvant chemotherapy, or other systemic therapy (e.g., neo/adjuvant HER2-targeted therapy) according to institutional policy and patient's desire. * Patient must be premenopausal at breast cancer diagnosis, as determined locally and documented in patient record. * Patient must be without clinical evidence of loco-regional and distant disease, as evaluated according to institutional assessment standards and documented in the patient record. * Written informed consent (IC) for trial participation must be signed and dated by the patient and the investigator prior to enrollment. * Written consent to biological material submission, indicating the patient has been informed of and agrees to tissue and blood material use, transfer and handling, must be signed and dated by the patient and the investigator prior to any procedures specific for this trial. * The patient has been informed of and agrees to data transfer and handling, in accordance with national data protection guidelines. * Patient must be accessible for follow-up.

Exclusion criteria

* Post-menopausal patients at BC diagnosis, as determined locally. * History of hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy or ovarian irradiation. * Patients with current local, loco-regional relapse and/or distant metastatic breast cancer. * Patients with a history of prior (ipsi- and/or contralateral) invasive BC. * Patients with previous or concomitant non-breast invasive malignancy. * Exceptions are limited exclusively to patients with the following previous malignancies, if adequately treated: basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, in situ non-breast carcinoma, contra- or ipsilateral in situ breast carcinoma, stage Ia carcinoma of the cervix. * Concurrent disease or condition that would make the patient inappropriate for study participation or any serious medical disorder that would interfere with the patient's safety. * Patients with a history of noncompliance to medical treatments and/or considered potentially unreliable. * Patients with psychiatric, addictive, or any disorder that would prevent compliance with protocol requirements.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Breast Cancer free interval (BCFI)From enrollment until the first invasive BC event, assessed up to 14 yearsKaplan-Meier Analysis

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pregnancy outcomeUp to 33 months after enrollmentLabor and delivery Information, full term pregnancy, caesarean section, abortion, miscarriage, ectopic, stillbirth rates.
Information on Menstruation recovery and patternUp to 24 months after enrollmentMenstrual diary
Offspring outcomeUp to 33 months after enrollmentCollect information on preterm birth, low birth weight, births defects rates.
Breastfeeding patternUp to 36 months after enrollmentAnalysis of pattern e.g Duration, use of ipsilateral breast if previous breast conservation, side exclusivity
Use of assisted reproductive Technology (ART)Up to 24 months after enrollmentART use will be tabulated
Pregnancy rate (determined by pregnancy test)Up to 24 months after enrollmentPregnancy test
Distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI)Time from enrollment in the study to the first breast cancer recurrence in a distant site, assessed up to 14 yearsKaplan-Meier Analysis

Countries

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Contacts

STUDY_CHAIROlivia Pagani, MD

Oncology Institue of Southern Switzerland (IOSI)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 26, 2026