Breastfeeding added protection to cancer survivors

Breastfeeding may help reduce some long-term negative side effects of cancer treatment in women who survived childhood cancer.

It is estimated that one in every 640 young adults between the ages of 20 and 39 will be a survivor of childhood cancer, largely due to the progress in cancer therapy. Specifically, 80 percent of children and adolescents treated with modern cancer therapies now survive. This growing number of cancer survivors faces significant health challenges, including a variety of adverse effects of the cancer itself and its treatment. These late effects include impaired growth and development, organ dysfunction, reproductive difficulties as well as increased risk of cancer re-occurrence.

It is well established that breastfeeding confers a number of health benefits to both infants and their mothers. An American research team looked at whether breastfeeding might result in the same benefits to women who have survived childhood cancer.

To examine the association between breastfeeding and cancer treatment, researchers reviewed studies that examined whether women can successfully breast-feed after treatment for childhood cancer, how childhood cancer treatment affects women's health in general over the long term and whether breastfeeding might reduce both the risk and impact of treatment-related toxicity in cancer survivors.

The analysis revealed that breastfeeding can have a positive impact on a mother's bone mineral density, metabolic syndrome risk factors, cardiovascular disease and secondary tumours - health factors that are all negatively affected by childhood cancer.

The researchers conclude that women who have survived childhood cancer and are physically able to breastfeed, should be actively encouraged to do so to help protect them against the many lasting effects of cancer treatment. Making women aware of the benefits of breastfeeding should be part of routine post-cancer diet and healthy lifestyle recommendations.