[Breast carcinoma in pregnancy. Clinical, histological and immunohistochemical findings].

The hormonally induced changes in the breast during pregnancy make the diagnosis of breast cancer difficult. Furthermore, examinations during pregnancy tend to concentrate only on the pregnancy itself. In this report the clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical results from 7 patients with breast cancer during pregnancy are presented. All women first noticed the tumor by self-examination. The time periods between discovery of the tumor and medical treatment were between 4 and 22 weeks. An overexpression of c-erbB-2-oncogene coded transmembrane protein p185 could be demonstrated in 4 cases. Of the seven patients, 5 have already passed away. Three of the deceased had p185-positive tumors, and died 4, 8 and 21 months after diagnosis. The two p185-negative patients lived 34 and 65 months post diagnosis. Despite the small amount of cases presented, a trend can be seen that p185 may be an additional prognostic factor for breast cancer in pregnancy.