Abortions
Do Not Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
According to a recent article published in The Lancet, induced
or spontaneous abortions do not increase the risk of a woman
developing breast cancer.1
Since breast cancer is such a common malignancy in women
in the United States, much time and money has been vested
in trying to prevent the disease altogether. Researchers are
continually evaluating the possible association between environmental
and/or genetic factors and an increase or decrease in the
risk of developing breast cancer, so that patients may modify
their behavior to decrease their risk or undergo appropriate
screening if they are at high risk. Debate has surrounded
the issue of abortions, either induced (planned medical procedure)
or spontaneous (unplanned miscarriage) and the risk of developing
breast cancer. With induced abortion being a highly charged
emotional and political debate, several studies have been
performed to determine if women who undergo induced abortions
are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Researchers affiliated with the Collaborative Group on Hormonal
Factors in Breast Cancer in England recently conducted a clinical
study involving over 80,000 women to evaluate induced abortion
and risks of developing breast cancer. All women in this study
had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and data was obtained
from 44,000 of these women prior to their breast cancer diagnosis.
There was no difference in the risk of developing breast cancer
whether a woman had one or more pregnancies ending in spontaneous
or induced abortions, compared to those who had never had
a spontaneous or induced abortion.
Other studies evaluating an association between abortions
and breast cancer have also been conducted. In 1994, the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center suggested that induced abortion
may result in a 50% increase in the incidence of breast cancer.2
However, in 2000, another study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center did not find any relation between induced
abortions and breast cancer incidence.3 In 1998, researchers
from the University of California reviewed data from all published
studies involving abortions and breast cancer incidence, and
found that there was either no effect between abortions and
breast cancer incidence, or there appeared to be a decrease
in incidence of breast cancer among women who had abortions.4
In yet another study published in the International Journal
of Cancer in 2003, researchers from Sweden also found that
breast cancer incidence was decreased in women who had at
least one induced abortion.5
The researchers from England who conducted the most recent
clinical study concluded that yet another study could not
provide any evidence that induced or spontaneous abortions
increase the risk of a woman developing breast cancer.
References:
1. Collaborative Group on Hormone Factors in Breast Cancer.
Breast Cancer and Abortion: Collaborative Reanalysis of Data
from 53 Epidemiological Studies, Including 83,000 Women with
Breast Cancer from 16 Countries. The Lancet . 2004;363:1007-16.
2. Daling J, Malone K, Voigt L, et al. Risk of breast cancer
among young women: relationship to induced abortion. Journal
of the National Cancer Institute. 1994;86:1569-1570.
3. Newcomb P and Mandelson M. A record based evaluation of
induced abortion and breast cancer risk (United States). Cancer
Causes Control. 2000;11:777-81.
4. Barthlomew L and Grimes D. The alleged association between
induced abortion and risk of breast cancer: biology or bias?
Obstet Gynecol Surv 1998;53:708-714.
5. Erlandsson G, Montgomery S, Cnattingius S. Abortions and
breast cancer: record based case-control study. International
Journal of Cancer. 2003;103:676-679.
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