Does abortion cause breast cancer?

Abortion has been linked to breast cancer by highly respected epidemiologists all over the world, although it is being disputed by some quarters.

The rate of breast cancer is rising rapidly across the globe. Part of this rise can be accounted for through known risk factors, but a full 60% of the increase has remained a mystery to scientists.

Recent medical research indicates that it may be abortion. Abortion of a first pregnancy interrupts the growth and hormonal changes which enable the breast to produce milk, which leaves the breast at a heightened risk of cancer. This risk, multiplied by the millions of induced abortions around the world, can account for the mysterious jump in the breast cancer rate.

A woman’s first full pregnancy causes hormonal changes which permanently alter the structure of her breast. The completed process greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer. A premature termination of a first pregnancy interrupts this process. Instead of protecting the breast from cancer, abortion leaves millions of breast cells suspended in transitional states. Studies in human tissue cultures indicate that cells in this state face exceptionally high risks of becoming cancerous.

Before a woman conceives for the first time her breasts consist mostly of connective tissue surrounding a branching network of ducts, with relatively few milk-producing cells. When the first child is conceived, oestrogen and other hormones flood the mother’s system. The pregnant woman experiences this as morning sickness. Under the influences of these hormones, her breast cells undergo massive growth. The resulting tenderness of her breasts is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. The network of milk ducts begins to bud and branch, developing more ducts and new structures called ‘end buds’. These end buds begin to form ‘alveolar buds’ which will later develop into the actual milk-producing glands, called ‘acini’. This period of rapid growth towards maturity is when breast cells are most likely to be affected by certain cancer-causing agents, or carcinogens.

Around the end of the first trimester of pregnancy the hormone balance in the woman’s body changes. Oestrogen levels drop and the levels of other, different hormones begin to rise. The growth phase of the breast ends, and a new phase of differentiation and maturation begins and continues until the child is born.

First-trimester abortions (about 90% of abortions are done at this time) appear to interrupt the breast maturation process at the worst possible time. When cells are reproducing the fastest, the risk that there will be an error in reproduction is the highest. Cancer results from cells whose reproduction runs amok. If she aborts more than once before completing a pregnancy, a woman’s chances for cancer increase even more. A subsequent full term pregnancy helps, but sadly never removes the sharply increased threat of cancer.

A spontaneous miscarriage does not increase her risk, attributable, it is thought, to the low amount of oestrogen present in her body during the short time this pregnancy existed. It is also thought that this is the reason the pregnancy fails.

Studies that show there is no risk have been flawed in several ways:

• inappropriately crude age matching or adjusting of controls (the main problem)
  

• interpreting as statistically insignificant some retrospective case control with low statistical power
  

• minimising the actual results obtained in their conclusions, and attributing results to patient’s ‘recall bias’ even though a close exam refutes such a claim.

The Swedish Lindford Harris Study is an example of an invalid study. it claimed "no overall risk after abortion in the first three months" - but it:

• combined those who aborted their first pregnancy with those who completed their first pregnancy
  

• had no control group. It compared with the total population which includes those who aborted
  

• claimed ‘recall bias’ with no proof

In its conclusion it did not mentioned that in its findings it showed that:

• Women aborted after a term delivery, equalled 58% of average risk
  

• Women aborted before a term delivery equalled 109% of average risk.

Example

A 15 year old girl has about one in nine or an 11% lifetime risk of breast cancer. If she gets pregnant in her teens and has the baby, she reduces her risk to about 7.5%. However, if she has an abortion her risk rises to over 15% (assuming that she has at least one child in her 20’s). If the abortion sterilises her, and/or for other reasons she never has another pregnancy, her risk rises to 30%.

What would protect her? Completing her first pregnancy by her early 20’s.