Role of Breastfeeding in Preventing Childhood Cancer

Introduction

In many countries, childhood cancer is becoming one of the most common causes of death among children. Despite making up about 1 percent of all cancer cases, childhood cancer raises several health, psychological, ethical, and societal issues. It is well known that breastfeeding reduces the risk of many short-term and long-term diseases. Breastfeeding also offers many benefits to the mother, including preventing breast and ovarian cancer.

Recent studies suggest that breastfeeding can also reduce the risk of childhood cancers such as leukemia (it is the cancer occuring in blood-forming tissues such as bone marrow). However, the connections between breastfeeding and the risk of childhood cancer vary across research and might be dependent on the kind of cancer. When compared to kids who were breastfed for shorter periods or not at all, experts discovered that breastfeeding a child for six months or longer was linked to a 19 percent lower risk for childhood leukemia. Other studies revealed that compared to children who were never breastfed, children who were breastfed had an 11 percent decreased risk of developing childhood leukemia.

What Are the Common Causes of Childhood Cancer?

Every year, more than 15000 children are diagnosed with cancer. Leukemia is the most common cancer among children, accounting for 30 percent of childhood cancers. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is more common than acute myelocytic leukemia. Other common cancers diagnosed in children include tumors in the brain, central nervous system, and lymphomas (cancer of the lymphatic system).

All types of cancers, including those in adults, occur due to genetic mutation. Genetic and environmental factors are the main causes of cancer in children. Chronic infections like HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), Ebstein Barr virus, malaria, etc., are the risk factors for childhood cancer. A child with a strong family history of cancer is also at high risk, but these genes are found to be rare.

How Breastfeeding Helps in Preventing Childhood Cancer?

The exact underlying cause of leukemia is unknown, and the role of breastfeeding in preventing leukemia is also unclear. Breast milk is composed of many nutritious factors, bioactive molecules, and immune cells. These components are believed to play a role in preventing childhood leukemia.

• Antibodies: Colostrum is the breast milk produced during the first week of life. It has a high nutritional value and is a golden yellow color. Colostrum hence gives infants their first few weeks of life's immunity. Immunoglobulin A, also known as IgA, is an antibody found in breast milk and comes in two varieties: IgA1 and IgA2. IgA2 is found in the colon, while IgA1 is found in the skin, serum, and saliva. It is yellowish and contains a lot of proteins, calcium, salt, and carotenoids. Due to its advantages, it is strongly encouraged to feed colostrum to new born babies.

• Cytokines: They have anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting, and growth-promoting effects for newborns.

• White Blood Cells (WBCs): The primary role of WBCs in human milk is to protect newborns from illnesses or to provide immunity to them.

• Proteins: Lactoferrin and osteopontin are the bioactive proteins found in human milk. In addition to aiding in iron absorption and cell proliferation, lactoferrin also can inhibit bacterial growth. Osteopontin is crucial for the growth of bone and cartilage.

• Affects the pH of the Stomach: Breast milk alters the stomach's pH and encourages the production of the protein-lipid a-lactalbumin, which causes tumor cells to die.

• Promotes Gut Health: Breast milk acts as a prebiotic by aiding in the promotion of a healthy gut microbiome.

How Long Should the Child Be Breastfed to Reduce the Risk of Childhood Cancer?

At least six months of breastfeeding is considered ideal for preventing childhood cancer. An analysis conducted in 2015 suggests that six months of breastfeeding may prevent 14 to 20 percent of leukemia in children. A study in China showed that breastfeeding for 7 to 9 months decreases the risk of childhood leukemia.

Hence, it can be concluded that breastfeeding for six months or more reduces the risk of all childhood cancers and many other diseases.

Can a Mother With Leukemia Breastfeed Her Child?

It depends on the stage of leukemia and the treatment taken by the mother. If the mother is taking radiation therapy near the breasts, it can affect the ability to produce milk. However, radiation therapy in other areas of the body may not affect breast milk production. Some medications might be transferred to the infant through breast milk. This includes potent chemotherapy medications that could be dangerous for the infant. Drugs used in immunotherapy and targeted therapies can potentially cross into breast milk. In such cases, breastfeeding is not indicated.

Other cases where breastfeeding is contraindicated include parents who have HIV and infants with galactosemia (a serious inherited condition where the body cannot break down the galactose in the blood resulting in its toxic level accumulation in the blood).

What Are the Other Benefits of Breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding offers many benefits for both infants as well as mothers.

For Infants:

• Provides proper nutrition for the infants.

• Reduces the risk of many infections such as middle ear infections, colds, gut infections, allergies, bowel diseases, diabetes, etc.

• It can also reduce the risk of other diseases like asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, obesity, allergic diseases, etc.

• Promotes healthy weight of the baby.

• It can help in early speech development.

For Mothers:

• Breastfeeding mothers have a lower risk of developing ovarian and breast cancers.

• Helps in burning calories and promotes weight loss. But some mothers may gain weight during breastfeeding.

• Helps the uterus to contract, which has been expanded immensely during pregnancy.

• Reduces the risk of diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, osteoporosis, etc.

• Pauses menstruation and ovulation which helps in spacing pregnancies.

Conclusion

Breastfeeding reduces the risk of many diseases in both infants and mothers. Studies show that it can also reduce the incidence of childhood cancer. Breastfeeding for at least six months is considered ideal for preventing childhood cancers like leukemia. Although the exact reason breastfeeding prevents childhood cancer is unclear, the constituents of breast milk, such as immune cells, antibodies, proteins, bioactive molecules, etc., are said to have a role in this. Hence, pediatricians recommend that new mothers breastfeed their babies for six months or more.