POSITIVE trial delivers babies after breast cancer

19 May 2017

Breast cancer can put baby plans on hold, so when Kirby was diagnosed at 26 she had to face the prospect that she may never realise her dream of being a mum.

Three years later, Kirby became the first Australian woman to plan, conceive and deliver a healthy baby as part of the international POSITIVE trial. Today, she and husband Chris are the proud parents of five-month old Easton, and they couldn’t be happier.

“I love being a mum,” Kirby said. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Led by the International Breast Cancer Study Group, POSITIVE was launched globally in 2014 and is only offered in Australia through St John of God Subiaco Hospital, under the guidance of St John of God Subiaco Hospital Director of Breast Cancer Research Unit and Surgical Oncologist Professor Christobel Saunders. It aims to recruit about 500 women from around the world who wish to interrupt hormone therapy for up to two years to attempt conception.

To be eligible for this trial, women need to have oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, be aged 18 to 42 and pre-menopausal. Participation involves brief quarterly clinic visits, blood tests at three, six and 12 months and a pelvic ultrasound performed at three and six months, as well as optional questionnaires.

Kirby said she found the lump in her breast after significant weight loss, and within a week of diagnosis was scheduled for a lumpectomy. This was followed by six rounds of chemotherapy and a series of radiotherapy treatments. Like many patients with ER+ cancer, she was then put onto tamoxifen to reduce the risk of recurrence.

“Before my treatment we tried fertility preservation, but they couldn’t get any eggs, so unfortunately we had no backup plan,” Kirby said.

“When Professor Saunders asked if I wanted to take part in this trial, we jumped at the opportunity.

“Although there is a minor risk with interrupting the tamoxifen, we decided it was a risk worth taking and we couldn’t be happier with the result.”

Kirby fell pregnant within a year of interrupting her tamoxifen treatment, without intervention. She is now about to re-start the tamoxifen and said without the support of Professor Saunders and the POSITIVE trial she and Chris may never have realised their dream of becoming parents.

Professor Saunders said about 15 per cent of patients with breast cancer are diagnosed during their reproductive years.

“As more women tend to delay childbearing, increasingly, breast cancer occurs before they have completed their families,” she said.

“This international study evaluates the pregnancy outcomes and safety of interrupting endocrine treatment. It will also improve our scientific understanding of issues related to conception and pregnancy in young women who have had breast cancer by helping us obtain solid data.”

St John of God Foundation Chief Executive Officer Nick Harvey said the Foundation consistently looks to support international life changing research projects like POSITIVE. We are proud to be in association with such a fantastic research group.