Population-based study of the association between exclusive breastfeeding duration and risk of childhood cancers
Dr. Signe Holst Søegaard
A population-based study in Denmark included al children born between 2005 and 2018 with available information on duration of exclusive breastfeeding. During 1.679.635 person-years of follow-up, 0.1% of children were diagnosed with cancer at ages 1 to 14 years (mean age at diagnosis 4.24 ± 2.67 years). Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 3 months was associated with decreased risk of childhood hematologic cancers, particularly B-cell precursor ALL (aHR 0.62; 95% CI 0.39-0.99), but not with risk of central nervous system tumors (0.96; 0.51-1.88) or solid tumors (0.87; 0.55-1.41). The authors conclude that longer breastfeeding duration may be a potential factor in prevention of childhood B-cell precursor ALL.
