While cancer itself is not contraindicated for breastfeeding, the use of chemotherapy, radiation with radioactive isotopes1 2, and certain cancer-related drugs are.3
A 2014 case report on the effect of chemotherapy on the microbiota and metabolome of human milk found that chemotherapy caused a significant deviation from a healthy microbial and metabolomic profile.4
It is advised to speak to a healthcare provider about concerns regarding breastfeeding while undergoing cancer treatment, donating breastmilk after cancer treatment, and receiving milk from a former cancer patient. Many will pump during treatment and discard the milk so that breastfeeding can continue after treatment is completed.
General Information on Medication
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- MotherToBaby Fact Sheet. Chemotherapy
↩︎ - Mohrbacher, N. The Breastfeeding Answer Book, 3rd Revised Edition. La Leche League International. Schaumburg, Illinois: 2004 ↩︎
- NIH National Cancer Institute – A to Z list of Cancer Drugs ↩︎
- Camilla Urbaniak, et al. 2014. Effect of chemotherapy on the microbiota and metabolome of human milk, a case report ↩︎
