Do women who have multiple induced abortions have a higher risk of breast cancer?
In the U.S. in 1987, 42% of women having abortions had more than one induced abortion, with 16.5% having more than three and 5.5% having four or more abortions14. It was noted that Dr. Ownby found that women with breast cancer who had more than one abortion have a shorter time to recurrence of their disease after initial treatment (although she failed to separate induced from spontaneous abortion)(12). Dr. Brind et al noted in 1996 that “seven out of the 10 studies reporting the multiple abortion OR (ie, “odds ratio” report slightly (though not significantly) higher ORs for two or more, as opposed to one abortion” [(3), p.13]. He also noted that: “the extant data are therefore insufficient to draw any firm conclusions about any overall dose effect of induced abortion at the present time.”(3). Few of the studies, however, measured the effect of consecutive induced abortions, especially before a FFTP. Howe et al did find that “ten cases and no controls had a history of repeated interrupt
