A recent study at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California found that women who breast-fed had a 30% lower risk of breast cancer relapse after treatment and had less aggressive tumor types compared to women who did not breast feed.
The researchers found that there were better prognoses when a mother breast-fed, which associated with a 37% decreased risk of recurring breast cancer after treatment. However, there were even better results if the mother breast-fed for six months or longer, which was associated with a 39% decreased risk of recurrence. The study also found that 80% of women that were diagnosed with luminal A breast cancer had positive responses to hormone therapy and treatments and had less aggressive tumors.
In addition, estrogen is known to be a hormone that can stimulate increased cell growth in the breast that can cause cancer. The estrogen levels in breast-feeding women are lower because they do not have their regular menstrual cycle.
Kristine Alarcon is a senior at the University of San Francisco working towards a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She is a Social Media Assistant at Cancer InCytes Magazine.
Written By Kristine Alarcon
CancerINCYTES
Reducing the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence with Breast-feeding was originally published @ Cancer inCYTES Blog and has been syndicated with permission.
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