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Exclusive breastfeeding as a protective factor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia
María M Saravia-Bartra1, Pedro Cazorla2, Felipe L Ignacio-Cconchoy3
1Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru.
Insights
Exclusive breastfeeding and a mother's complete secondary education significantly reduce the risk of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). This study in Peru highlights key protective factors for ALL in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is a leading childhood cancer globally.
- In Peru, the protective role of exclusive breastfeeding (EB) against ALL has not been previously assessed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify protective and risk factors for ALL in children aged 0-13 years.
- To investigate the association between exclusive breastfeeding and ALL in a Peruvian national hospital.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 112 ALL cases and 229 controls.
- Data collected via maternal interviews.
- Statistical analysis using odds ratio (OR) and multivariate logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Exclusive breastfeeding (EB) was associated with a 44% reduction in ALL risk (OR 0.56, p=0.017).
- Complete secondary education for mothers reduced ALL risk by 62% (OR 0.38).
- No significant difference in gender distribution between cases and controls.
Conclusions:
- Exclusive breastfeeding is a significant protective factor against childhood ALL.
- Maternal complete secondary education also demonstrates a protective effect on ALL development.
- These findings underscore the importance of breastfeeding and maternal education in mitigating childhood leukemia risk.
Introduction:
Globally, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), represents more than 30% of all types of cancers in children aged between 0 and 9 years. In Peru, it has not been evaluated whether exclusive breastfee ding (EB) is a protective factor for ALL.
Objective:
To identify the protective and risk factors associa ted with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children aged between 0 and 13 years in a national hospital in Lima, Peru.
Patients And Method:
Observational, analytical study, case-control design. 112 cases diagnosed with ALL and 229 controls were evaluated. The data were collected by interviews with the mothers of both groups. The magnitude of the association between ALL and EB was estimated using the odds ratio (OR) and multivariate logistic regression in Stata v 12.
Results:
50.9% (57/112) of the cases and 51.5% (118/229) of the controls were male. The mean age of the cases was 6.7 ± 3.2 years and of the controls 5.7 ± 3.5 years. The mean age of the mothers of the cases was 35.9 ± 6.5 and of the controls was 34.1 ± 7.1 years. EB reduces the risk of ALL by 44% compared with those who did not receive it, OR 0.56, p = 0.017, 95% CI (0.35-0.90). Complete secondary education reduces the risk of ALL by 62%, OR 0.38 CI 95% (0.15-0.61).
Conclusions:
Exclusive breastfeeding and the mother's complete secondary education are protective factors for the development of ALL in children and adolescents.
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