母乳餵養或可降低癌症復發的風險
A new report suggests that breast-feeding, which has been associated with a reduced breast cancer risk, may have another benefit. In mothers who later develop breast cancer, breast-feeding may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.
一份新的報告顯示，哺乳除了與較低的乳腺癌風險相關之外，可能還具有另一個好處。在後來罹患乳腺癌的母親中，哺乳或可降低癌症復發的風險。
The study, in the July issue of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, followed 1,636 breast cancer survivors. Researchers examined medical records and gathered data on whether mothers had ever breast-fed their children. They found 383 recurrences and 290 breast cancer deaths during an average nine years of follow-up after completion of treatment.
該研究發表在7月號的《國家癌症研究所雜誌》(Journal of the National Cancer Institute)上，共計隨訪了1636名乳腺癌倖存者。研究人員審查了她們的醫療記錄，並收集了關於其哺乳史的數據。他們發現，在治療結束後的隨訪期間（中位時間爲九年），出現了383例復發，290人因乳腺癌死亡。
After controlling for age, smoking, education, race, type of therapy and other factors, they found that compared with women who had never breast-fed, any breast-feeding was associated with a 30 percent reduced risk of recurrence, and breast-feeding for more than six months was associated with a 37 percent reduced risk. There were similar risk reductions for breast cancer deaths.
在對年齡、吸菸史、教育狀況、種族、接受治療的類型和其他因素進行校正後，研究人員發現，與從未哺乳過的女性相比，哺乳史與復發風險降低30%相關，哺乳期超過六個月與復發風險降低37%相關。在因乳腺癌死亡的風險方面也可見類似的降低。
“Breast-feeding is a good thing for the baby, and there are additional benefits for the mom that this study suggests,” said the lead author, Marilyn L. Kwan, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif. “This contributes to information already available in making a personal decision about whether or not to breast-feed.”
“母乳餵養對嬰兒有益，而該研究表明此舉也能給母親帶來額外的好處，”該研究的主要作者，凱薩醫療機構（Kaiser Permanente，位於加利福尼亞州奧克蘭市）的科學家瑪麗蓮·L·關(Marilyn L. Kwan)說。“這一研究結果爲母親決策自己是否要進行哺乳提供了更多有益的信息。”
The risk reductions were particularly apparent in estrogen-receptor positive cancers, the most common type, but were not significant for women with HER2 positive tumors. Breast-feeding leads to certain molecular changes in breast cells, which may help explain the effect.
這種風險的降低在最常見的一類乳腺癌——雌激素受體陽性癌症中尤其明顯，但在HER2（人類表皮生長因子受體2）陽性腫瘤患者中並不顯著。哺乳可引起乳腺細胞中的一些特定的分子改變，這可能有助於解釋上述影響。
