Study Confirms Abortion Triples Breast Cancer Risk Among Sri Lanka Women

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 22, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Study Confirms Abortion Triples Breast Cancer Risk Among Sri Lanka Women

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 22
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new study coming from researchers in Sri Lanka finds women who had abortions more than triple their breast cancer risk compared with wome who carry their pregnancy to term. The study was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology and found a 3.42 odds ratio against women having abortions compared with those who kept their baby.

Abortion was the most significant factor in the study on breast cancer risk and researchers found a significantly reduced risk associated with prolonged duration of breastfeeding a newborn.

Malintha De Silva and colleagues from the University of Colombo led the study.

The Sri Lankan study is the fourth epidemiological study in fourteen months to report an abortion-breast cancer link, including studies from the U.S., China and Turkey.

Other studies have shown the protective effect a full-term pregnancy has for women.

In this case, having a baby and subsequent breast feeding between 12-23 months after birth had researchers finding a 66.3% risk reduction in comparison to those who had never breastfed and those who had breastfed between 0 and 11 months.

The risk reduction climbed to 87.4% for the 24-35 months group and 94% for the 36-47 months group.

"Obviously, women who abort forfeit the protective effect of breastfeeding," said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, a gorup that educates women about the breast cancer risk from abortions.

"The loss of that protective effect is incurred in addition to the effect of abortion leaving the breasts with more places for cancers to start," she said.

"According to the researchers, ‘mammography is not widely available for routine screening’ in Sri Lanka. Therefore, health professionals must emphasize disease prevention," Malec added. "It is criminal that the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has covered up this risk for over a half century. Uncle Sam is abusing women by concealing the risk."

In the one from the Unite States, Louise Brinton, a NCI branch chief, served as co-author.

She and her colleagues admitted that "…induced abortion and oral contraceptive use were associated with increased risk of breast cancer." The authors cited a statistically significant 40% increased risk of breast cancer following an abortion.

"It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the NCI to keep its fingers and toes in the dike," said Malec, "especially since many researchers in other parts of the world do not depend on the agency for grants."

The new study article is titled, "Prolonged breastfeeding reduces risk of breast cancer in Sri Lankan women: A case-control study."

Reference:

De Silva M, Senarath U, Gunatilake M, Lokuhetty D. Prolonged breastfeeding reduces risk of breast cancer in Sri Lankan women: a case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol 2010;34(3):267-73. Abstract available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20338838

Related web sites:
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer – https://www.abortionbreastcancer.com

 

Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report
Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.