Dear "netters:  A while back there was mention of women who were
breastfeeding after breast cancer, but I don't recall references.  I saw
a woman today who had a lumpectomy and radiation in 1989 and is now
pregnant at age 38.  Her radiated breast has had no pregnancy changes but
the other breast has increased in size.  She had hoped to breastfeed, but
two oncologists have told her she shouldn't.  The one reason cited was
the difficulty of monitoring the breasts during lactation.  The other
reason was that she was already "taking a chance" exposing the breasts to
the estrogen levels of pregnancy, and that she shouldn't continue
exposing them to the extra estrogen of breastfeeding.  Now correct me if
I'm wrong, but isn't there a relative estrogen deficiency during
lactation?  Anyone have any good references to help this mother make the
decision?  At the very least, I would love to challenge the oncologist to
produce studies that have shown increased risk of recurrent breast cancer
with lactation, but I wonder if there are any data.  I welcome all
comments and suggestions.  TIA, Alicia.  [log in to unmask]