BRCA2

[Guest guest]

Hi All,Do you have solid data about breastfeeding and the incidence of breast cancer in BRCA2 gene carriers? Did any of you heard of a recommendation not to breastfeed if you are a carrier if the gene? Anything I can pass on to a mom that is a carrier and was told not to BF will be great! Thank you, Adi Kiriaty

[Guest guest]

I would think a recommendation TO breastfeed would be more in order since it reduces the amount of estrogen.Breast Feeding Found to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk in Women with BRCA1 MutationsAugust 26, 2004 Dana Schmidt, BS, RN, IBCLCCradlehold Breastfeeding Education & Supportwww.cradlehold.netPlease follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CradleholdBreastfeedingEducationSupport No information submitted electronically through the Website or email to us will be treated as privileged, confidential, sensitive or personal health information unless we have previously entered into a written agreement with you to protect such information. Any person submitting confidential

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Hi All,Do you have solid data about breastfeeding and the incidence of breast cancer in BRCA2 gene carriers? Did any of you heard of a recommendation not to breastfeed if you are a carrier if the gene? Anything I can pass on to a mom that is a carrier and was told not to BF will be great! Thank you, Adi Kiriaty

[Guest guest]

I've not found anything against breastfeeding with BRCA2 gene, they only thing (so far) I've found is that the risks are higher with each pregnancy. So if someone would tell a mother not to breastfeed I would hope that they would counsel them on not having children in the first place. Although I don't think they should tell a woman not to do one or the other but let them know the risks and mom can make the choice. Even though they have not found a protective effect against cancer by breastfeeding with this particular gene maybe it is helping

some without our knowing. If she is worried about passing the gene on to her child, that would already have been done at fertilization.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22405187 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRCA_mutation Childbearing and fertility effectsWhether to have children is a significant source of stress for women who learn of their BRCA mutations during their childbearing years.[25]There is likely little or no effect of a BRCA gene mutation on overall fertility,[28] although women with a BRCA mutation may be more likely to have primary ovarian insufficiency.[29] BRCA mutation carriers may be more likely to give birth to girls than boys.[30]If both parents are carriers of a BRCA mutation, then pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is sometimes used to prevent the birth of a child with BRCA mutations.[11] Inheriting two BRCA1 mutations (one from

each parent) has never been reported and is believed to be a lethal birth defect. Inheriting one BRCA1 mutation and one BRCA2 mutation has been reported occasionally; the child's risk for any given type of cancer is the higher risk of the two genes (e.g., the ovarian cancer risk from BRCA1 and the pancreatic cancer risk from BRCA2). Inheriting two BRCA2 mutations produces Fanconi anemia.[11]Each pregnancy in genetically typical women is associated with a significantly reduction in the mother's risk of developing breast cancer after age 40.[25] The younger the woman is at the time of her first birth, the more protection against breast cancer she receives.[24] Breastfeeding for more than one year protects against breast cancer.[24] Pregnancy also protects against ovarian cancer in genetically typical women.[25]Although some studies have produced different results, women with BRCA mutations are generally not expected to receive these significant protective benefits.[24][25] Current research is too limited and imprecise to permit calculation of specific risks.[25] However, the following general trends have been identified:For women with a BRCA1 mutation, the woman's age when she first gives birth has no association

with her risk of breast cancer.[25] Childbearing provides no protection against breast cancer, unless the woman has five or more full-term pregnancies, at which point she receives only modest protection.[25] Similar to genetically typical women, pregnancy protects

against ovarian cancer in BRCA1 women.[25] Breastfeeding for more than one year significantly protects against breast cancer.[25] This effect may be as high as 19% per year of breastfeeding, which is much higher than seen among genetically typical

women.[31] The effect, if any, of long-term breastfeeding on ovarian cancer is unclear.[25]For women with a BRCA2 mutation, each pregnancy is paradoxically associated with a statistically significant increase

in the risk for breast cancer.[25] Unlike genetically typical women or women with BRCA1 mutations, breastfeeding has no effect on either cancer in women with BRCA2mutations.[25] Limited and conflicting data suggests that, also unlike

other women, pregnancy may not reduce ovarian cancer risk significantly in women with a BRCA2 mutation; in fact, one study suggested that pregnancy might increase their risk of ovarian cancer.[25]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15265971 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267287/?tool=pmcentrez Cheryl n IBCLC