Home | Contact Us | Newsletters

A news item in the Australian Financial Review(“Real costs of breast cancer in the workplace, AFR 31/7/07)   reported on the  work of the Breast Cancer Network  in raising funds to    support    women having treatment for breast cancer.  The article  mentioned the difficulties faced by women in juggling treatment with their careers,  and focused on efforts to get   high profile women  from business and public life to assist in  fund raising.  The article  noted that the fund-raising “Field of Women” event attracted ll,500 women to the M.C.G. before an AFL game (the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005) and that this year it aimed to attract 13,000 women, the current figure for diagnoses, to Telstra Stadium in Sydney.  The women wear pink ponchos and form the shape of a woman on the  grounds,  to raise awarness and corporate sponsorship. 

The article quoted  businesswoman, Barbara Cail, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, saying that stress was a trigger [for the disease]  and “now we have one in nine women in Australia diagnosed and they are getting younger and younger.  The disturbing news about the breast cancer cluster at the ABC’s Brisbane headquarters also highlights the impact of breast cancer on a younger age group”. 

While the work of the Breast Cancer Network   is commendable, what is disturbing is that the Network and  Cancer Councils in Australia focus only on diagnoses and research, but  by failing to give women information on reproductive health factors, do little about prevention.  Early  diagnosis is essential, but prevention is so much better. 

Women cannot change their genetic history, but there are factors within their control.  Most breast cancers are caused by over exposure to estrogen.  If women had their first baby  early in life and breast fed for two years as the World Health Organization recommends, they would derive substantial protection from breast cancer. 

Putting career first and postponing first birth till age 30 or later increases risk, as do induced abortion and  “the pill”.  Breast cells multiply under the surge of estrogen in pregnancy and are left vulnerable to carcinogens if the pregnancy is aborted because these cells do not  stabilize  as  mature milk-producing cells until 32-weeks gestation. 

In regard to  breast cancer clusters at the ABC studios,  why  is the induced abortion history of the women not recorded?    With over 90,000 abortions yearly in Australia, it is not surprising that the incidence of breast cancer has risen from one in 11  to one in 9,  and that it is manifesting  more and more  in young  women.  We have warned about  this for the past 12 years.  There are over 28 epidemiologic studies showing induced abortion increases breast cancer risk, but  Cancer Councils, captives of the feminist lobby,  ignore the information and rely on spurious studies to maintain there is no risk while failing to offer an alternative explanation. 

The influence of the feminist lobby .  Some years ago at a conference in Tasmania a cancer  specialist dared to mention that if women had their first full-term pregnancy early in life  instead of focusing on  careers, it would reduce the incidence of breast cancer.  There was such a howl from feminists that he scuttled back to his hospital in Sydney like a frightened sparrow and begged prolifers not to quote him.  About 30,000  teenagers become pregnant in Australia each year, and about half have abortions.  These hapless girls are not told their “unwanted” pregnancy in fact offers them substantial protection from a lethal disease. 

Nor are women informed that the World Health Organization has listed the contraceptive  pill a Class l carcinogen.   All these  high flying  women executives  - do they even realize that it is their careers - in so far as these prevent them from having babies and breastfeeding them, that contribute to their risk of  breast cancer?