Photo by Petr Kratochvil
Breastfeeding a child may reduce his risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) but perhaps not acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a review published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers found that breastfeeding a child for 6 months or longer was associated with a 19% lower risk of childhood leukemia, compared with no
breastfeeding or breastfeeding for a shorter period of time.
And children who were breastfed for any amount of time had an 11% lower risk of childhood leukemia than children who were never breastfed.
However, when the researchers analyzed studies of ALL and AML separately, they found that breastfeeding was not associated with a significantly lower risk of AML.
Efrat L. Amitay, PhD, and Lital Keinan-Boker, MD, PhD, of the University of Haifa in Israel, conducted this research.
In a review of 18 studies, the pair found that breastfeeding a child for 6 months or longer was associated with a significantly lower risk of childhood leukemia, compared with no breastfeeding or breastfeeding for a shorter period of time (odds ratio [OR]=0.81).
And a separate analysis of 15 studies showed that children who were breastfed for any amount of time had a lower risk of childhood leukemia than children who were never breastfed (OR=0.89).
The researchers also conducted meta-analyses of AML studies and ALL studies separately—11 ALL and 6 AML studies. And they found a significant inverse association between breastfeeding for 6 months or more and ALL risk (OR=0.82) but no significant association for AML risk (OR=0.74).
The researchers said several biological mechanisms may explain the association between breastfeeding and a reduced risk of childhood leukemia. However, more high-quality studies are needed to clarify those mechanisms.
