Study links breast-feeding to reduced risk of leukemia

Children who were breast-fed for more than six months were 19 percent less likely to be diagnosed with leukemia compared with those who nursed for six months or less, researchers reported Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The incidence of leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer in the United States, grew by an average of 0.7 percent per year between 1975 and 2011. One explanation for breast-feeding's protective effect could be the theory that a prenatal genetic mutation makes some children susceptible to leukemia, and exposure to an "infective agent" after birth makes cancer start to grow. Breast milk contains antibodies that help fight infections. They also seed the baby's gut microbiome, which boosts the immune system. Researchers from the University of Haifa and the Israel Center for Disease Control decided to test this hypothesis by examining the relationship between breast-feeding and leukemia, using data from 18 published reports. Those studies included information about 10,292 children and teens who were diagnosed with leukemia and 17,517 matched controls who were not.

- Los Angeles Times