Breastfeeding ~ Prior to Diagnosis

I was diagnosed with DCIS yesterday and am now strating to worry for my daughter who is 7 months old. I breastfed her exclusively until the end of July (she was born in March). Istopped breastfeeding completely around the beginning of August but am worried whether the DCIS can do her any harm or cause any damage to her? Doles anybody have any idea?

Poor you. But you have nothing to worry about on that score. You cannot ‘catch’ DCIS. These are just pre-cancerous cells which if they are left may or may not turn into invasive cancer. I was in exactly the same position as you (had a mastectomy) - was breastfeeding and had to quickly wean my little one so I could get the operation.
My thoughts are with you and sending a big hug!
L x

hi again… i just posted on your other thread! i was diagnosed whilst breastfeeding my son. i had invasive cancer, not DCIS, and passing it to my son was one of my immediate concerns. i asked my oncologist about this and his answer was ‘No’.
if some cancer cells were in the breast milk they would have to go thro their digestive system (highly acidic) and this would kill them off, failing that, their immune system would destroy them as they would be recognised as a forgein body.
i have also done some research into this and cannot find any cases in the world where a child has caught cancer from a mothers breast milk.
i know that theorectically it seems possible that it can happen, particularly with an invasive cancer and i still worry ‘but what if just one cell has got through…’ however, i think the chances of this are extremely unlikely. i hope this helps… please let me know if you find any evidence to suggest otherwise. xxxx

this has got me thinking again… is there anyone from BCC who can provide any information about this? thanks in advance.

Hi All

I have passed this on to our nursing team for consideration.

Best wishes
Poppy

thankyou Poppy. i appreciate that.

just bumping this up…

I was diagnosed whilst breastfeeding too and would be interested in any theories around passing cells over in the milk.

thanks bcc in advance.

I finished breastfeeding a month before my diagnosis of invasive cancer, so like others on here, I would be grateful for any information.

Shenagh x

just bumping this. not sure how long BCC usually need to respond… i don’t mean to harass you just hoping we haven’t been forgotten!?

Thanks for you replies ladies, I feel much better after hearing from you. I agree it would be nice to hear from someone with some facts/theories. Hope you are all doing well.

Sandra

xx

hi again, just bumping this up… i asked BCC for advice and haven’t heard anything yet…

This is really interesting as I was breastfeeding when diagnosed and it was one of my first questions and even though the doctor at the time reassured me immediately, I still worry and still think about it.

My little boy wouldn’t feed from the side where I had the tumour which is why I had a feel about and found the enlarged lymph node under my arm. The GP, health visitor and midwife all told me to try and make him feed from that side to try and increase the milk as they all thought it was just a blocked milk duct. And I feel so guilty that I made him feed from the cancerous breast.

It may sound wierd but I feel he showed me where the cancer was, there is an idea that children can sense these things. My primary tumour was so small that even the surgeon couldn’t feel it. The enlarged lymph nodes were tucked right up under my arm and my surgeon was so surprised that I’d found it. So, my baby showed me it was there. Wierd but that’s what I believe!

Would love to hear some more info on this as I said, it still bothers me.

x

Helping with a bump…

bump again…

Hello BCC, i’m not trying to be rude, but i’m wondering if anyone intends to try to answer the questions raised in this thread… it is now two weeks since it was passed to the nursing team for consideration…

thanks in advance.

Hi redcell

Thankyou for bringing this to our attention. I will try to find out what has happened to the response to this question.

Kind regards Sam (BCC Facilitator)

I breast fed both my daughters and towards the end of brestfeeding I found the lump in my breast. They are both grown women now and so far have had no signs of the dreaded disease. They are now 34 and 27. Hope this reassures anyone who is worried. But why worry about it anyway as there is nothing any of us can do to turn back the clock. We could worry forever about the “what ifs” and it really doesn’t help in our recovery. This is only my personal opinion.I think the benefits of breast feeding far outweigh anything else and I do not regret one minute of it. It is a great start to life. Love V XX

Dear All

Please see the response from the nursing team below.

Hello redcell,

We apologise for the delay in answering your query. This was due to an administrative error which meant this enquiry was only passed to us today.

There is no evidence that breast cancer cells can pass from a mother in her milk to the baby. Laboratory tests indicate cancer cells do not thrive well in breast milk and in the unlikely event that some cells were circulating in the milk, they should be quickly destroyed by the baby’s digestive tract enzymes or by their immune system which is improved by all the nutrients in breast milk.

I hope this answers your query. If you still have a concern about this or any other issue, we would encourage you to ring our free helpline (0808 800 6000), where you will be able to speak to one of our experienced nurses or specialist trained helpline workers.

Best Wishes,

The Nursing Team