Exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months may lower the risk for childhood hematologic cancers, a recent study suggests. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, was conducted by researchers from the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen.
The analysis included data for 309,473 children born between January 2005 and December 2018, identified from the Danish National Child Health Register. The findings revealed that compared with exclusive breastfeeding duration of less than three months, exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months was associated with a decreased risk for hematologic cancers.
The decreased risk was largely attributable to a decreased risk for B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). However, there were no associations between breastfeeding duration and the risk for central nervous system tumors or solid tumors.
The authors noted that the finding is consistent with emerging investigations implicating early gut microbiome maturation in childhood BCP-ALL pathogenesis. They also emphasized the need for additional studies to investigate the biologic mechanisms underlying the observed association to inform future preemptive interventions.
