Kefah Mokbel, Chair of Breast Cancer Surgery at London Breast Institute and Honorary Professor of Medicine at Cardiff University School of Medicine, shared a post on LinkedIn about a paper published in the Nature:
“How Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Empower the Immune System to Guard Against Breast Cancer
Exciting new research alert!
A recent study published in Nature shows that the body’s own immune system plays a key protective role against breast cancer — especially after pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Here are the highlights:
- Women who have been pregnant and breastfed show a build-up of special immune cells called CD8⁺ T cells (including a tissue-resident memory kind) in their breast tissue.
- In mouse models, the full cycle of pregnancy → lactation → mammary gland involution triggered this immune build-up and led to slower tumour growth — but this effect vanished when CD8⁺ T cells were removed.
- In human samples from over 1,000 patients, breast cancers in women who’d been pregnant (parous women) had higher T-cell infiltration and better outcomes than in women who hadn’t.
Why this matters:
Until now, we knew pregnancy and breastfeeding reduce breast-cancer risk (especially the aggressive triple-negative type). But the how was less clear. This work reveals that the immune system doesn’t just passively change — it actively ramps up a kind of ‘local defence army’ in the breast.
What this could mean going forward:
- We might develop new prevention strategies that mimic the immune boost of pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- It gives fresh insight into why reproductive history matters for breast cancer risk — not just hormones or tissue changes.
- Understanding how those CD8⁺ T cells work could open doors to tailored immune-based treatments or early-intervention ideas.
Final thought:
Our bodies are more interconnected than we often realise. From pregnancy to immune memory, this study beautifully bridges biology, immunity, and everyday life.
If you’re involved in cancer research, women’s health, immunology or public health, this is one worth reading — and sharing.”
Title: Parity and lactation induce T cell mediated breast cancer protection
Authors: Balaji Virassamy, Franco Caramia, Peter Savas, Michael A. Harris, Jia-Wern Pan, Jianan Wang, Emmaline Brown, Megan O’Malley, Courtney van Geelen, Michael Hun, Thomas N. Burn, Sneha Sant, Jamieson D. Ballan, Jasmine Kay, Luis E. Lara Gonzalez, Kylie Clarke, Han Xian Aw Yeang, Rejhan Idrizi, Metta Jana, Damon J. Challice, Roberto Salgado, Heather Thorne, Cathie Poliness, Sophie Nightingale, Soo-Hwang Teo, Terence P. Speed, Jane Visvader, Paul J. Neeson, Phillip K. Darcy, Laura K. Mackay, Sherene Loi
Read the full article on Nature.
More posts featuring Kefah Mokbel.
