Video 1 min read

Postpartum breast cancer: what cellular senescence reveals

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Did you know that some types of breast cancer become more aggressive after pregnancy? This is the phenomenon that Lamia Djoual and her team at the Institut Pasteur are exploring.
  • #Cancer du sein
  • #Senescence
  • #Découverte
Lamia Djoual

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Did you know that some types of breast cancer become more aggressive after pregnancy?

It’s called postpartum breast cancer, and it can appear up to 10 years after childbirth.

Contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer.
But after breastfeeding, the breast undergoes changes (a process called involution), and some cells enter a state of “senescence”: they stop dividing and are supposed to disappear.

The problem? If they aren’t properly eliminated, they cause inflammation that can promote aggressive tumors and metastases.

Lamia Djoual explains that by reducing these senescent cells during this phase, we delay the onset of tumors and reduce metastasis.

These results have yet to be confirmed in humans, but they finally provide a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, which remains largely misunderstood.

(video in french, english subtitles available translated by AI)