Summary: In Europe, Breast Cancer Incidence Forecasted by Increase in Abortion Rates

In a study of eight European countries, researchers concluded that the increase in breast cancer incidence appears to be best explained by an increase in abortion rates and lower fertility.

• In a study reported in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, national cancer registration data for female breast cancer incidence was studied in eight European countries--England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Denmark. The researchers of this study looked at the rates of abortion incidences in these countries compared to the rates of female breast cancer. According to this study, in most of these listed countries, women currently over the age of 45 years old have had more abortions and fewer children than previous generations of women, and a further increase in breast cancer incidence is expected. In England, the researchers for this study found that a high rate of abortion leads to the large breast cancer forecast increase (numbers of newly diagnosed cancers expected to increase to 62,252 in 2025, compared to 39,229 in 2004). In Scotland, the lower abortion rate, offset by lower fertility than in England, leads to a slightly lower rate of increase in breast cancer incidence. As a result of these findings, the researchers of this study concluded that the increase in breast cancer incidence appears to be best explained by an increase in abortion rates and lower fertility.

¹The Breast Cancer Epidemic: Modeling and Forecasts Based on Abortion and Other Risk Factors, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Vol. 12, No. 3, Fall 2007, pp. 72-78.