Emirati mother gives birth and beats breast cancer

Doctors at Burjeel Medical City believe patient to be first in world to become pregnant while being treated for late-stage cancer

A doctor carries out a mammogram examination used to detect breast cancer. Getty Images

An Emirati woman who had advanced breast cancer has defied the odds by giving birth to a healthy baby boy and being declared free of the disease.

The woman, 34, had a history of breast cancer before becoming pregnant with her fifth child in December 2022.

Doctors believe it could be the first case in the world of a child being conceived while a mother is receiving therapy for stage four breast cancer.

The case is unique and, despite the favourable outcome for both the mother and the child, we still do not recommend such an approach for a patient with advanced cancer

Prof Humaid Al Shamsi

Women diagnosed with breast cancer are generally advised to take contraception to avoid becoming pregnant while undergoing targeted cancer treatments, due to the risks associated with strong medications including trastuzumab-pertuzumab.

Serious health risks

A child conceived during such cancer treatments are at risk of developing serious heart problems.

But the mother gave birth naturally to a healthy baby boy at Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi.

Prof Humaid Al Shamsi, director of the medical oncology service at the hospital, treated the patient and said women undergoing cancer care were urged to avoid becoming pregnant.

“Number one, they are getting a very toxic treatment, either chemotherapy or targeted therapy," he said.

“Number two, you cannot leave them for two or three months without treatment, as they can die.

“Her treatment was well known to cause malformations in the foetus, particularly in the heart. She acknowledged that she may have died because of this, but was happy to take the risk.”

Dr Humaid Al Shamsi, director of the medical oncology service at Burjeel Medical City. Photo: Burjeel Medical City

Mother halted treatment

The woman avoided further treatment after giving birth because she wanted to breastfeed her child. Pregnancy-associated breast cancer is reported in about three out of 1,000 pregnancies.

There have been no previous medical reports of conception occurring while the mother was being treated for stage four cancer.

Scans were carried out 16 weeks into the pregnancy and then again after 20 weeks, to check the health of the baby. The scans showed normal results for growth and a low risk of pre-eclampsia – a life threatening complication.

Since giving birth at 38 weeks after a six-hour labour, the mother has been declared cancer free, while her baby is also healthy.

A report on the case has been published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science, in collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Centre, and presented in Madrid at the European Society for Medical Oncology.

“When we submitted this case for publication, usually you have two or three people reviewing or experts reviewing the case,” said Prof Al Shamsi, who is also professor of oncology at Gulf Medical University.

“In our case, we had nine experts reviewing the case because it was so unusual.

“The case is unique, and despite the favourable outcome for both the mother and the child, we still do not recommend such an approach for a patient with advanced cancer, given the significant risk of progression and death for the mother and the foetus.

“We don't want anyone to go through this again because it can be very risky and life-threatening.”