The American Feminist

The American Feminist, Summer 1996

Breast Cancer Breakthroughs

Genetic researchers found an apparent genetic link in a significant number of breast cancer cases in women under 40, especially among young Jewish women. The gene BRCA1 normally works to prevent cancer, but it has been found to defective in 27 percent of Jewish breast cancer patients and five percent of non-Jews. New treatments do not seem likely anytime soon, but women can be screened for the gene to get a jump on susceptibility, detection, and treatment.

A new study supports a link between abortion and breast cancer. A team of epidemiologists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center came out in support of the theory that an abortion interrupts the natural process of breast-cell differentiation, which occurs during pregnancy. This interruption may be what leads to abnormal cell development and causes cancer later in life. However, the researchers suggested that a 23 percent higher risk was not significant, and may be a result of women without breast cancer underreporting their abortions, thus skewing the results to make that percentage higher than it actually was. Although numerous studies have suggested a link, other studies have not supported the connection between abortion and breast cancer.