A French study on women with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, shows "the clearest dose effect of any (abortion-breast cancer) study." Professor Joel Brind (Baruch College, City University of New York)
"Communist China's one child per couple policy is at least partially responsible for its escalating breast cancer rates, according to at least two studies. Researchers expect an epidemic of 2.5 million cases of breast cancer by 2021 among women from the One Child Generation who will then be between the ages 55 and 69." (Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer)
Studies from France and China have reported that breast cancer risk climbs with number of abortions. Demonstrating a "dose effect" is considered an "important measure of credibility" for establishing a cause-effect relationship.
http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/download/Commentary_12-3-2012.pdf
A French study led by Julie Lecarpentier, which included the esteemed scientist, Nadine Andrieu of the Curie Institute, reported a significant trend among women with increasing number of abortions (P=0.02). [1]
In comparison to women with no incomplete pregnancies, the authors found a non-statistically significant 1.29-fold risk elevation among women with a history of induced abortion and a non-statistically significant 1.49-fold increased risk among women with a history of induced abortion and miscarriage.
Lecarpentier's team reported atypical findings among women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that differ from what scientists have reported for the general population. Although experts have long agreed an early first full term pregnancy before age 25 (the younger, the lower the risk) substantially reduces risk for the general population, BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers benefit from delaying first full term pregnancy until ages 25-29. Nevertheless, full term pregnancy reduces risk for both populations.
For the general population, induced abortion raises risk, but most miscarriages (which primarily consist of abnormal first trimester pregnancies) do not raise risk. By contrast, in the case of BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers, Lecarpentier's team reported similar findings for both induced abortion (non-statistically significant 1.30-fold increased risk) and miscarriage (non-statistically significant 1.35-fold elevation in risk).
Professor Joel Brind explained, "This can be attributed to the fact that the risk elevation is limited to induced abortion before first full term pregnancy (statistically significant 1.77-fold elevated risk)."
Dr. Brind later added, "Bottom line: Unlike the general population, women who carry the BRCA 1 or 2 mutation benefit from having children later rather than sooner. However, while having a child when young does not confer any significant benefit (i.e. decreased risk), aborting an early pregnancy significantly increases risk (i.e., 1.77-fold risk elevation if abortion occurs before first full term pregnancy). Moreover, although induced abortion after first full term pregnancy does not increase risk relative to no abortion, it clearly increases risk relative to not aborting that pregnancy, as full term pregnancy becomes more and more protective with age in these women. So overall, these women are really not that much different, when one considers the real life situation of already being pregnant: Carrying the pregnancy to term always leaves the woman with a lower risk than would having the abortion."
A hospital-based study on women in Yunnan province, China led by Che Yanhua reported a significant increasing trend with number of abortions (P=0.001). [2] In comparison to never having had an abortion, one abortion was associated with a statistically significant 2.50-fold increased risk. Two or more abortions were associated with a statistically significant 12.31-fold elevated risk. The study likely produced an underestimate of the risk because its abortion numbers are diluted by a small percentage of first trimester spontaneous abortions, which don't impact risk.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer said, "The corresponding author acknowledged to us by e-mail that, even though he and his colleagues did not distinguish between induced and spontaneous abortions, 'Induced abortion is the main method of family planning used by Chinese people for (the) one child policy. Thus, induced abortion is the majority and encounters over 90% of the cases.'"
Yanhua's team argued that recall bias "can have a significant impact on the precision of the information gathered. Cases with BC (breast cancer) in these studies may link abortion to BC by themselves and are likely to provide more complete or even biased information about their abortion history than controls without BC. Such differences in the completeness of reporting can compromise the accuracy of the study results."
Their team provided no citations to support their argument. Western researchers have speculated about recall bias for years, without finding any credible evidence to date that more healthy women than breast cancer patients lie about or forget their abortions. In a nation where a one child policy is vigorously imposed on the population, women are unlikely to be ashamed to reveal their abortion histories.
Additional reproductive risk factors for breast cancer found in the study include: delayed first full term live birth until age 24 or older (statistically significant 1.82-fold elevation); lack of breastfeeding after birth (statistically significant 3.26-fold elevation); and childlessness. One birth decreased risk by a statistically significant 91% in comparison to childlessness.
"Of course, more abortions mean more delayed first full term pregnancies, less breastfeeding, more childlessness, and smaller families," observed Mrs. Malec.
"The Chinese counterpart to America's Roe v. Wade Generation - which, according to the 2001 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, suffered the brunt of the increased incidence of breast cancer (not the two older generations that did not have legal access to induced abortion) - might be called the 'One Child Policy Generation,'" mused Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. [3] "At least two studies have fingered China's one child policy for being at least partially to blame for an approaching epidemic in 2021 of 2.5 million breast cancer cases among women aged 35-49 years in 2001." [4,5,6]
Yanhua et al. 2012 is the eighth of eight Chinese studies linking induced abortion with increased breast cancer risk. Excluding a 2007 ecologic study on eight European countries finding that induced abortion was the "best predictor" of future breast cancer rates, 55 of 70 epidemiologic studies report risk increases for women with abortions. [7,8]