The results of this study support the inclusion of induced abortion among significant independent risk factors for breast cancer. Although the increase in risk was relatively low (RR 1.3), the high incidence of both breast cancer and induced abortion suggest a substantial impact of thousands of excess cases per year.

The Daling study was specifically commissioned and funded by the United States National Cancer Institute to investigate the abortion/breast cancer link. 845 women with breast cancer were compared with 961 controls. Janet Daling’s group found an overall 50% breast cancer risk increase by age 45 for women who have had

The Howe study, done in 1989, was based totally on a prospective data base from the state of New York (both fetal death and breast cancer being mandated as reportable diseases). There is no possibility of “recall bias” influencing the result. The study found a 90% increase in breast cancer