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DNA ploidy assessment of breast milk (colostrum) in primiparous women of different ages

Olsson, Håkan LU orcid ; Lindahl, Bengt LU ; Baldetorp, Bo LU ; Borg, Åke LU ; Fernö, Mårten LU ; Killander, Dick LU and Ranstam, Jonas (1991) In Breast Disease 4(3). p.219-222
Abstract

Recent studies on breast cancer risk factors suggest that nursing may have a protective effect. The mechanism behind this is unknown. To investigate whether removal of tumorigenic epithelial cells in breast milk contributes to the reduced risk of developing breast cancer, DNA ploidy of cells in colostrum breast milk from 200 primiparous women was studied with flow cytometry. No woman displayed an abnormal DNA content of the shed epithelium in the milk. Although it cannot be excluded that tumor cells with a near-diploid DNA content are present, our results suggest that early shedding of a large clone of transformed aneuploid epithelium is not a common event and that the protective effect of nursing on breast cancer risk is due to other... (More)

Recent studies on breast cancer risk factors suggest that nursing may have a protective effect. The mechanism behind this is unknown. To investigate whether removal of tumorigenic epithelial cells in breast milk contributes to the reduced risk of developing breast cancer, DNA ploidy of cells in colostrum breast milk from 200 primiparous women was studied with flow cytometry. No woman displayed an abnormal DNA content of the shed epithelium in the milk. Although it cannot be excluded that tumor cells with a near-diploid DNA content are present, our results suggest that early shedding of a large clone of transformed aneuploid epithelium is not a common event and that the protective effect of nursing on breast cancer risk is due to other mechanisms, e.g., hormonal changes in the breast.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
breast cancer, breast milk, colostrum, DNA ploidy, epithelial cells, lactation, protective effect of nursing
in
Breast Disease
volume
4
issue
3
pages
219 - 222
publisher
IOS Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:0025899469
ISSN
0888-6008
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
37f0d105-f17a-47d3-9184-cc3bf944209f
date added to LUP
2018-12-19 14:56:08
date last changed
2021-12-01 08:56:14
@article{37f0d105-f17a-47d3-9184-cc3bf944209f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Recent studies on breast cancer risk factors suggest that nursing may have a protective effect. The mechanism behind this is unknown. To investigate whether removal of tumorigenic epithelial cells in breast milk contributes to the reduced risk of developing breast cancer, DNA ploidy of cells in colostrum breast milk from 200 primiparous women was studied with flow cytometry. No woman displayed an abnormal DNA content of the shed epithelium in the milk. Although it cannot be excluded that tumor cells with a near-diploid DNA content are present, our results suggest that early shedding of a large clone of transformed aneuploid epithelium is not a common event and that the protective effect of nursing on breast cancer risk is due to other mechanisms, e.g., hormonal changes in the breast.</p>}},
  author       = {{Olsson, Håkan and Lindahl, Bengt and Baldetorp, Bo and Borg, Åke and Fernö, Mårten and Killander, Dick and Ranstam, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{0888-6008}},
  keywords     = {{breast cancer; breast milk; colostrum; DNA ploidy; epithelial cells; lactation; protective effect of nursing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{219--222}},
  publisher    = {{IOS Press}},
  series       = {{Breast Disease}},
  title        = {{DNA ploidy assessment of breast milk (colostrum) in primiparous women of different ages}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{1991}},
}