Erin Blakemore (Washington Post - 10/15/2017) reported that "Nursing has been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer risk in both pre- and post-menopausal women. But, says Virginia Borges, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s young women’s breast cancer program ... it gets complicated from here. The older a woman is when she gives birth for the first time, the more likely she is to get breast cancer. But, Borges says, it’s not that simple. “I would never want a woman to decide to not have a child because of anything related to breast cancer ... Breast-feeding may moderately offset the increased risk of breast cancer associated with pregnancy: Research has shown that women who breast-feed can cut their risk of some aggressive breast cancers by up to 20 percent relative to women who don’t nurse ... So should you plan on nursing to potentially stave off breast cancer? Absolutely, Borges says, but “it takes two to tango.” Not every woman or baby can successfully nurse, and breast-feeding may not be an option because of cultural, lifestyle and other factors."
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