Lethal Legacy : The Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer

1. Lethal Legacy: The Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer Eve Sánchez Silver Medical Research Analyst Executive Director CLResearch silver@clresearch.org www.clresearch.org CLResearch… making research clear Access Presentation: http://www.clresearch.org/talks/wellesley051031.pdf

2. Breast Cancer is very personal • It fractures your femininity • It shatters self-image • It is the destroyer of “self” as you know yourself to be • Breast Cancer is… the destroyer of lives A-BC Legacy

3. LethalLegacy: The Link Between Abortion and Breast Cancer… • Abortion’s long term effects lead to a lifetime of regret and additional loss of life • Women Deserve Information • Women’s Rights begin with women’s health A-BC Legacy

4. The Abortion-Breast Cancer Link A-BC Legacy

5. Outline • The Abortion-Breast Cancer Link • Breast Cancer: Abortion’s Legacy • Psychological Impact of Abortion Trauma A-BC Legacy

6. The breast is an organ • The mammary gland is the only organ that is not fully developed at birth • Until there is a full term pregnancy, the breast remains immature A-BC Legacy

7. The breast develops in stages • Immature in Stage 1: • From birth • through puberty • until pregnancy • Mature in Stage 2: The breast is mature only after a full term pregnancy A-BC Legacy

8. How does breast differentiation occur? • Mammary Lobules: • Type 1: • Pre-puberty few type 1 lobules exist • Type 2: • At puberty: increased estrogen causes growth of lobules that become type 2 lobules • As a woman gets older: increased estrogen causes further growth of lobules type 1 and 2 lobules A-BC Legacy

9. A-BC Legacy

10. How does breast differentiation occur? (cont’d) • PREGNANCY after 32 weeks • Type 3 • The last eight weeks of pregnancy TURN OFF the growth and cancer forming potentials of type 1 and 2 lobules • Type 4 • Safe, non-cancerous Milk producing lobules form A-BC Legacy

11. Lobule differentiation • Breast size increases by the aggregate number of Type 1 lobules, over time • The sooner a woman’s breast lobules convert from cancer prone Type 1 and 2 lobules to cancer protected Type 3 and 4 lobules, the lower her risk of breast cancer Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, M.D., F.A.C.S. Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery,Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ www.bcpinstitute.org A-BC Legacy

12. Effect of full term pregnancy on risk • A full term pregnancy dramatically reduces lifetime breast cancer risk by converting type 1 and type 2 lobules to type 3 and 4 • The FIRST full term pregnancyhas the greatest risk-reducing effect since more type 1 and 2 lobules are available for conversion entering this first pregnancy than just before subsequent pregnancies A-BC Legacy

13. Effect of full term pregnancy on risk (cont’d) • Subsequent pregnancies further reduce lifetime risk • Reducing the time interval from first menstruation until the first full term pregnancy also serves to limit overall lifetime risk A-BC Legacy

14. Epidemiological Studies • So many studies… since 1957 • 33 studies worldwide have shown a 95% confidence interval for the effect of induced abortion on the entire population studied (i.e. : scientific evidence is 95% reliably sure) • Women who had at least one abortion were • 50% more likely to develop breast cancer • 27 of the studies showed definite increased risk • 17 of these studies were statistically significant (Joel Brind, Ph.D; Professor of Human Biology and Endocrinology Baruch College, City University of New York) A-BC Legacy

15. International Studies show a 95% confidence interval A-BC Legacy

16. Premature Birth Risks • 59 out of 59 studies show even ONE ABORTION significantly increases Risk of Premature Birth • Premature birth increases baby’s risks of: • Cerebral Palsy • Hyaline Membrane (lung) Disease • Poland and Ireland - countries which prohibit abortion- have 50% lower rates of premature birth and breast cancer than US A-BC Legacy

17. Breast Cancer: Abortion’s Legacy A-BC Legacy

18. Breast Cancer Worldwide • Breast cancer rates are increasing dramatically worldwide while other cancer rates are NOT • What about abortion rates? A-BC Legacy

19. Patrick Carroll • British researcher, director of the Pensions and Population Research Institute, London • Presented his findings at the Joint Statistical Meetings at the Minneapolis Convention Center – the largest gathering of statisticians in North America • Insurance Actuaries determining trends A-BC Legacy

20. Carroll’s report: • The first trend is that upper-class women are the most likely to develop breast cancer and die of the disease • Abortion before a first birth and delayed first birth among upper class women provide the best explanations for this trend, according to Carroll A-BC Legacy

21. Carroll says • The second trend involves regional breast cancer rates of the British Isles. Breast cancer rates are greatest in the southeast (116 per 100,000) where abortion rates are higher than in other regions, whereas • A third trend finds an increase in breast cancer between 1971 and 2002. During those years, incidence of the disease rose 70 percent in the UK A-BC Legacy

22. Follow the social class breast cancer mortality rates of England and Wales A-BC Legacy

23. Follow the trends Carroll's research adds to a body of evidence showing women who have had one or more abortions – especially one prior to birthing their first child – are more susceptible to breast cancer. Karen Malec, Abortion-Breast Cancer Coalition http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com A-BC Legacy

24. Pharmaceutical Legacies A-BC Legacy

25. Pharmaceutical Legacies • Estrogen is a recognized carcinogen • its carcinogenic effect is measured in parts per trillion • The Pill (which contains estrogen) causes breast cancer (as listed in textbooks) A-BC Legacy

26. Latest report from WHO • The World Health Organization latest report states that estrogen is carcinogenic to women(August 2005) • Concerns develop over contraceptive products oral contraceptives (like the Pill) and HRTs (Hormone Replacement Therapy) A-BC Legacy

27. Estrogen • Women start producing substantial estrogen at puberty • Estrogen causes breast cancer in type 1 and type 2 lobules A-BC Legacy

28. Estradiol levels A-BC Legacy

29. Estrogen level during 28 weeks of pregnancy Source: Kunz and Kunz Early Miscarriage A-BC Legacy

30. A-BC pathology A-BC Legacy

31. A-BC pathology • Women start producing substantial estrogen at puberty • Estrogen causes breast cancer in type 1 and type 2 lobules A-BC Legacy

32. A-BC pathology (2) • The longer women with type 1 and 2 lobules are exposed to their own estrogens, the greater their risk of developing breast cancer • Once type 1 and 2 lobules are converted into type 3 and 4 lobules, they become immune to the cancer • Abortion interrupts the conversion of type 1 and 2 lobules into protective type 3 and 4 lobules A-BC Legacy

33. A-BC pathology (3) • Naturally aborted pregnancies (miscarriage) do not appreciably increase cancer risk due to low estrogen levels • This pathway has been confirmed experimentally —Jose and Irma Russo (Fox Chase Cancer Center) A-BC Legacy

34. A-BC pathology (3) Abortion Rate Relative Risk DENMARK 1868-1958 15 year running averages A-BC Legacy

35. Susceptibility of the Mammary Gland to Carcinogenesis II. Pregnancy Interruption as a risk factor in Tumor IncidenceJose Russo, MD, Irma H. Russo, MD • Russo and Russo, FCCC A-BC Legacy

36. Mitigating the A-BC pathway • Two factors that control lifetime breast cancer risk • Limit accelerated risk increases by avoiding forced aborted pregnancies • Reduce lifetime risk by having a full-term pregnancy • Lifetime risk can be further limited by having a first full term pregnancy as soon as possible after menarche A-BC Legacy

37. The BRCA1 Breast Cancer Gene A-BC Legacy

38. BRCA1 & BRCA2 gene pathology • BRCA1&2 carriers have an increased lifetime risk of developing: • a second primary breast cancer in the same breast • breast cancer in the other breast A-BC Legacy

39. Mitigating the BRCA1 pathway • Dr. Mary Claire King: BRCA1 gene • Women with the BRCA1 gene have a higher incidence of breast cancer when compared to women without the gene A-BC Legacy

40. Mitigating the BRCA1 pathway • Dr. Mary Claire King: BRCA1 gene • Women who have the BRCA1 breast cancer gene • Are as protected by pregnancy as women who do not have the BRCA1 gene • IF women with BRCA1 have a: • first full term pregnancy • followed by lactation (& breast feeding) • They can then attain the maximum protection achievable same as women without the BRCA1gene A-BC Legacy

41. Who is keeping a lid on the facts? • Reputable researchers fear for their reputations and their jobs if they speak up A-BC Legacy

42. Pink Money Organizations • PINK MONEY ORGANIZATIONS are often the cancer research funding organizations who have a financial agenda to fulfill and a social agenda to carry out: • WOMEN’s RIGHTS are more important than • WOMEN’s HEALTH A-BC Legacy

43. Pink Money Organizations • PINK MONEY ORGANIZATIONS • Remain silent about the confirmed link between abortion and breast cancer • May stand to gainfinancially by maintaining an information black-out on confirmed abortion-breast cancer link facts • DENY confirmed A-BC Link facts because it is politically expedient to do so in order to support their funding organizations A-BC Legacy

44. United StatesPink Money Organizations • The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation • The American Cancer Society • The National Cancer Institute • And the US Media A-BC Legacy

45. Journal of Ethics and Medics • Bio-ethics journal revealed flawed study • Dr. Angela Lanfranchi’s articles discredited The National Cancer Institute’s favorite: Beral Study • Dr. Edward Furton, Editor of JEM slammed scientists for “shoddy research” in defending the notion that abortion is “safe” • See Dr. Joel Brind’s article regarding “sham research” (www.bcpinstitute.org) A-BC Legacy

46. National Cancer Institute • Claim: "Although it has been the subject of extensive research there is no convincing evidence of a direct relationship between breast cancer and either induced or spontaneous abortion". A-BC Legacy

47. Melbye Misclassification • 60,000 womenwho had abortionsmisclassified in the study as not having had an induced abortion Dr. Joel Brind, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute A-BC Legacy

48. The Melbye Study • I suggested in a long letter to the Wall Street Journal in 1997 that "the NCI (that is, the US National Cancer Institute and its journal would do better to protect American women" and by extension, women in the rest of the world as well) "by warning them about abortion; [which] most evidence indicates is the single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer, rather than protecting the abortion industry by invoking flawed analyses from Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark." Dr. Joel Brind, Breast Cancer Prevention Institute A-BC Legacy

49. Dirty white lab coats • Researchers with vested interests put out unreliable or false data • Publishers publish it • The media proclaims it A-BC Legacy

50. Some will not be silent • Dr. Janet Daling’sStudy of American Women:  • "Risk of Breast Cancer Among Young Women: Relationship to Induced Abortion” (11/ 2/ issue: 1994 Journal of the National Cancer Institute,Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA.) • 1,806 women in study • 845 women with breast cancer • 961 control group (no b/c) • Each Interview was 1on 1 and 2hours long A-BC Legacy