ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: PAUL RECER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Women should not let fear of breast cancer influence decisions on abortion because studies linking the two probably are in error, says a new study, the latest in a politically volatile dispute.
Research in the Netherlands that showed an increased risk of breast cancer among women who had undergone abortions may have been biased because many of the women inaccurately reported their abortion history, according to a study being published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
At least five studies have found that having an abortion increases breast cancer risk, while six others have found no such link. Still another study found a negative association - that abortion lowered the risk of breast cancer.
Now a study led by Matti A. Rookus of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam finds that one reason for the confusion may be that women don't always tell the truth about their abortion history, particularly if they live in an area where abortion is less accepted.
Rookus said the problem, called ``recall bias,'' exists in studies where researchers gather data by interviewing women about their reproductive history and then use this data to draw statistical conclusions.
``It is a problem that is underestimated in many studies,'' she said, and that could be significant since some found only a small increased risk for cancer among women who had had abortions.
Rookus and her colleagues interviewed 918 breast cancer patients and a like number of healthy women. They asked both groups about their reproductive history.
The result showed that women across the country were 1.9 times more likely to have breast cancer if they had had abortions.
However, the figure was 14 times more likely in southeastern regions of the Netherlands that are predominantly Roman Catholic or conservative Protestant. In less conservative regions, the rate of breast cancer among women who had had abortions was only 1.3 times greater.
Rookus said that difference between the regions suggested a reporting bias among the healthy control group.
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