'Breast Cancer Risk from Abortion and the Birth Control Pill' by Dr Chris Kahlenborn

[Guest guest]

The subject book has been available from One More Soul for many years. In my slightly biased opinion, it is the definitive work on the subject and should be read by every woman and physician. The Q & A format facilitates readability and comprehension. Dr Kahlenborn has authored several other resources available at www.OMSoul.com.The journal of the Mayo Clinic (Mayo Clinic Proceedings) has published a key article in it’s

October 2006 issue entitled “Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for

Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer: A

Meta-analysis”, authored by Kahlenborn, M.D., (Internal Medicine, Altoona

Hospital, PA), Francesmary Modugno,

Ph.D., (Epidemiology), M. Potter, Ph.D. (Biostatistics) both from the

University of Pittsburgh, and Walter B. Severs, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of

Pharmacology at the Penn State College of Medicine. This article and other studies are available from The Polycarp Research Institute (Dr Chris) web site: www.polycarp.org.One might ask why the popular media has not brought these works to the attention of American women. I think the answer can be seen in the preponderance of pharaceutical company advertising in TV and print mediums. Money talks.On 13 November, One More Soul hosted (thanks to Trustee Ruth Deddens and hubby Bob) a panel discussion on Breast Cancer Risk from Hormonal Birth Control. The panelists were Drs Kahlenborn, MD (NFP-Only Columbus Ohio O/G, NaPT MC), and MD (NFP-Only Oncology Radiologist at Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Ohio). Ruth tried desperately, but failed, to find someone to represent the "no-risk" viewpoint. Dr destroyed the "nobody thinks that the pill causes breast cancer" myth by quoting from a multitude of web sites. The Dayton Daily News report of the panel included a lengthy quote from a Planned Parenthood rep, to which Dr responded as follows.

This is a copy of my response to the online DDN article.

There is a scientifically proven link between “the pill” and breast

cancer. This reminds me of where we were 50 years ago with cigarettes and

lung cancer, asbestos, and leaded paint. L. , MD

I

am completely dumbfounded that the Planned Parenthood representative quoted in

the article states that, "Mainstream medical groups, such as the American

Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, have repeatedly found that

there is no link between breast cancer and either the pill or abortion.

"It's scientifically baseless," Brenner said. "This theory has

been out there for years." Even a quick google search refutes all of

her statements.

(1)

The American Cancer Society website states that, "Studies have found that

women who are using birth control pills have a slightly greater risk of breast

cancer than women who have never used them." They also states that,

"the use of combined hormone replacement therapy after menopause increases

the risk of getting breast cancer. It may also increase the changes of

dying from breast cancer." (fyi, these are the same types of hormones

as in "the pill")

(2)

The flagship publication of the American Medical Association, JAMA, published

an article, "Estrogen Plus Progestin and Breast Cancer Incidence and

Mortality in Postmenopausal Women" on October 20, 2010. fyi -- these

are the same types of hormones as in most birth control pills. They

followed 16,608 women aged 50 - 79 years old and concluded that "Estrogen

plus progestin was associated with greater breast cancer incidence, and the

cancers are more commonly node-positive. Breast cancer mortality also

appears to be increased with combined use of estrogen plus progestin."

(3)

A large study of 53,848 African American women done at Boston University

was just published on July 20, 2010 in The American Association for Cancer

Research. The author, Lynn Rosenberg, concluded that oral contraceptive

formulations used in recent decades increase breast cancer risk in African

American women, with a greater effect for estrogen receptor negative cancers

than estrogen receptor positive cancers." This was an excellent

study that examined a very large group of women with a very specific diagnosis

in order to try an be very specific about cause and effect. This study

was even quoted in "Slate" online magazine, hardly a right wing wacko

website.

(4)

The National Cancer Institute website re-iterates it's own study published in

2003 in which, "The results indicated that the risk (of breast

cancer)

was highest for women who used oral contraceptives within 5 years prior to

diagnosis, particularly in the younger age group (20 - 34 years old).

(5)

A French group (Alban Fabre, et al) found a positive association between

premenopausal use of progestagens and breast cancer risk. A study in 2008

stated, "We found an increased risk of lobular carcinoma associated with

premenopausal use of progestagens among both current and past users." The

risk ratio's in these groups were 1.5 - 1.6, i.e. a 50 - 60% increased risk for

these women to develop breast cancer by taking oral contraceptives.

(6)

A group in Seattle at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center ( M.

Dolle, et al.) found that, "Oral contraceptive use of greater than 1 year

was associated with a 2.5 fold increased risk for triple-negative (this refers

to tumor receptors) breast cancer and among women less than 40 years old,

the relative risk for triple negative breast cancer associated with oral contraceptive

use great than 1 year was 4.2. (that's 4.2 times the average risk!). This

study was published in 2009.

(7)

Trivers et al. from the CDC states that "Recent oral contraceptive use is

associated with modestly higher breast cancer incidence among younger

women." They studied effects upon mortality and found that

"Compared with nonusers, mortality estimates were elevated among women who

were using oral contraceptives at diagnosis or had recently stopped them."

(8)

J. Hunter at Channing Laboratory in Boston

concluded that "Current use of oral contraceptives carries an excess risk

of breast cancer. Disfferent oral contraceptive formulations might convey

different risks of breast cancer."

(9)

The very large Norwegian-Swedish Women's Lifestyle and Health Cohort Study

followed 103,027 women. Their summary statement is, "Current/recent

use of oral contraceptives is associated with an increased breast cancer

risk."

The

bottom line for me is that one can get some basic data from the National Cancer

Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the Centers for Disease Control

that show a link between oral contraceptives and breast cancer. If you

dive in to the actual studies, you can find a definite link. The great

unanswered question is "Why haven't women heard about this?"

There are alternatives to "the pill" and there should be truly

informed consent if a woman decides that she wants to take them.

Thanks,

L. , MD

The panel discussion and DDN articles will be available at www.OMSoul.com. This is the Advent Season--a period of waiting--so you may have to wait awhile. Thanks for your patience; Advent and Christmas blessings to all.Steve KoobCo-founder & DirectorOne More Soulsteve@...