Baby hope boost for women with cancer

When a young woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, her first concern is invariably about survival but often the next fear is whether she can have children.

Perth researchers are starting a trial for the first time in Australia to find out whether they can create a window of opportunity for women to take a break from treatment to conceive.

Part of the international POSITIVE trial, young women with breast cancer from across WA will be recruited by St John of God Hospital in Subiaco, under the eye of its director of breast cancer research Christobel Saunders.

"Chemotherapy can age your ovaries by 10 years and if you have five or 10 years of treatment, your chance of having babies can be slim," Professor Saunders said. "But we have thought if you interrupt the hormone therapy for a while it might not be dangerous and we'd like to show that."

Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 26 two years ago, Kirby Bardsley hopes she can take a break from treatment next year to try to have a baby. "My husband and I had planned to start our family in 2013, but that got put on hold," she said.