Breastfeeding lowers risk of breast and ovarian cancer
The survival of women with ovarian cancer remains poor mostly due to late detection. Therefore, preventing it from occurring is essential for reducing mortality from this disease. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology, attempted to identify modifiable factors to create better prevention strategies.
Over the last few years there has been extensive research on the biological mechanisms involved in breastfeeding that could reduce breast cancer risk. Currently, the leading hypothesis has been that the suppression ovulation during breastfeeding inhibits division and proliferation of certain cells, thus reducing the opportunity for cancer to develop. It was postulated that this same mechanism of ovulation suppression could reduce ovarian cancer risk as well.
For this study an analysis of a total of 9973 women with ovarian cancer was done. Both, women with children and women without children were selected. They were given questionnaires to collect data on breastfeeding history- including duration per child breastfed, age at first and last breastfeeding, and years since last breastfeeding.
After multivariable calculations, it was found that women who had breastfed had a 24% lower risk of invasive ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding for 12 or more months was associated with a 34% lower risk of ovarian cancer.
Thereby, this study suggests that breastfeeding is associated with a significant decrease in risk of ovarian cancer overall and especially for the most lethal types of ovarian cancer. This findings also suggest that breastfeeding is potentially a modifiable factor that can help lower risk of ovarian cancer.
Source: Babic A, Sasamoto N, Rosner BA, et al. Association Between Breastfeeding and Ovarian Cancer Risk. JAMA Oncol. 2020;6(6):e200421. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0421
Source link: Association Between Breastfeeding and Ovarian Cancer Risk – PubMed (nih.gov)
Know the cancer – Breast cancer treatment
Previous :Women Who Undergo Implant-Based Breast Reconstruction Report Long-Term Satisfaction