HHS HealthBeat (September 25, 2008)

Breast cancer and breastfeeding

From the U.S. Department of health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

There’s a lot about breast cancer risk, such as their family history, that women can’t control. But they can do some things, and a study says breastfeeding is among them.

Amanda Phipps of Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center examined data on breastfeeding and risks of some types of cancer. Her study in the journal Cancer was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

``Women who’d breastfed for at least six months in their lifetime were much less likely to develop breast cancer than mothers who had never breastfed.’’  (7 seconds)

For the most common forms – which are less aggressive – the risk reduction was about 20 percent. For one less common but more aggressive form, the reduction was about 50 percent.

Phipps sees benefits in breastfeeding. So she recommends women go with what works.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September, 25 2008