Dear Friends:

Consider these facts carefully.

Researchers are investigating the use of anti-progestins for the purpose of preventing breast cancer.  Physicians are using anti-estrogen drugs in the treatment and prevention of the disease. 

Does it make sense, then, that women are being pushed to take hormonal contraceptives that contain both estrogen and progestin or just progestin alone (i.e. the morning-after pill, Depo Provera and the progestin-only mini pill)?

Scientists claim to have had success in preventing breast cancer in mice by administering to them the abortion drug RU 486, an anti-progestin.  However, the drug's effectiveness in preventing the disease in humans is highly questionable.  RU 486 neutralizes an essential hormone - cortisol - which mice do not make, but which humans absolutely require.  Using RU 486 for breast cancer prevention would "give women Addison's disease by chronically neutralizing their cortisol," according to one scientist.

Read the story below and spread the word.

Sincerely,
Karen Malec
Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer

ABORTION-BREAST CANCER NEWS HEADLINES

"RU 486 Not Likely to Be Used for Breast Cancer Prevention / Drug Would  'Essentially Give Women Addison's Disease by Chronically Neutralizing Their Cortisol,' Says Scientist"

The journal Science published an article in its December 2006 issue in which researchers claimed they successfully used the abortion drug, RU486 (mifepristone), to prevent breast cancer in mice carrying the BRCA1 gene. [1]  The gene is associated with an increased risk of cancers of the breast and the ovaries.

RU 486 is called an "anti-progestin." Progestin is a substance that acts like the hormone, progesterone. 

Progesterone is necessary for breast cancer to develop.  When the hormone estrogen (a carcinogen) is in the presence of progesterone, progesterone increases the rate of cell division.  An increased rate of cell division means an increased likelihood of developing cancer.   

Although the drug may be useful in preventing breast cancer in mice, it's questionable that it can be used for the same purpose in humans. RU486 interferes with a hormone that humans absolutely require - cortisol - but which mice do not produce. 

Cortisol is the body's major anti-stress hormone and serves many critical functions.  Individuals who lack cortisol in their blood die of Addison's disease.  At least seven women have died after using RU 486, deaths largely attributable to the anti-cortisol activity of the drug.

Professor Joel Brind, president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, offered his comments on the use of RU 486 for breast cancer prevention:

"There is reason to believe that RU 486 as an anti-progestin might suppress growth of breast cancer in an experimental system in mice, but RU486 also neutralizes the essential hormone cortisol which mice do not make. Therefore, there is good reason to believe that such a drug would not be an effective anti-cancer drug in people.  It has been tried in certain forms of benign tumors in people, namely benign meningiomas and uterine fibroids, and it isn't effective.

"Basically, the reason that use of RU-486 is a non-starter for the prevention of breast cancer is that, by virtue of its action as an anti-cortisol drug, it would essentially give women Addison's disease by chronically neutralizing their cortisol. Of course, feedback regulation would make the patients' bodies produce more cortisol, which would then of course neutralize the drug. It could conceivably prevent breast cancer, but it would be more extreme than surgical removal of the breasts or ovaries....

"I would say that the clinical utility of RU-486 is likely to be limited to cases in which a disease state is characterized by excess cortisol. It is not likely to be any good in preventing breast cancer in healthy women, or even treating it by trying to reduce progesterone, because it is such a strong drug as an inhibitor of cortisol action.

"I would certainly suspect, however, that media interest in the mouse breast cancer prevention story is politically driven: rather like reporting that the guillotine has been found useful for slicing bread, to give an instrument of execution a better name."

Even a co-author in the study, University of California scientist Eva Lee, expressed doubts about the use of RU 486 for preventing breast cancer in humans.  She told a journalist at Reuters that RU486 may act to suppress the body's immune system.  She said:

"Mifepristone may not be the best for prevention purposes. The reason is that mifepristone actually has very broad activities, and we are aware that there are other compounds that are more specific. Those kind of compounds probably have greater potential in terms of prevention." [2]

Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Baton Rouge-based Ochsner Health System told a journalist at HealthDay that,  "It's basically showing that this particular agent can change some of the mammary function, but it's a real leap to say that it may be useful in cancer prevention." [3]

The National Cancer Institute, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Department of Defense funded the research on RU 486.  From the point of view of government bureaucrats, politicians and others who look upon women as guinea pigs and promote the consumption of cancer-causing steroidal hormones (read hormonal contraceptives), news reports that link the abortion drug RU486 with decreased breast cancer risk are highly desirable, even if the drug has only been proven effective in mice.  The reports cause women who are contemplating an abortion to erroneously believe that, by taking the drug, they might also benefit their own health.  For many years now, scientists at the National Cancer Institute have been struggling to erase any notions in the public mind that abortion is related to an increased breast cancer risk.

But the "women are guinea pigs" mob are not inclined to tell women the best way to prevent the disease - have more children, starting at a younger age, and breastfeed them longer.  Nor do they want women to know what the most preventable cause of breast cancer is - abortion.

A University of California - Irvine press release announcing the research on RU 486 admits that:

"Previous studies conducted by other researchers linked high progesterone levels with an increase in breast cancer risk, particularly in menopausal women who underwent hormone-replacement therapy that included progesterone and estrogen to ease symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. That research, combined with the recent findings, lead scientists to believe that anti-progesterone could, in the future, provide women at risk for breast cancer with more prevention options." [4]

Consider the following facts:

Fact # 1: Progesterone is necessary for the development of breast cancer.

Fact # 2: Progesterone is the body's natural progestin.  Scientists are hopeful that anti-progestin drugs might one day be used to combat breast cancer.

Why, then, are women being pushed to take contraceptives and abortifacients that contain progestin (i.e. the progestin-only mini pill, Depo Provera and the morning-after pill)? 

Is it not also an abuse of women to promote the consumption of oral contraceptives that contain both progestin and the hormone, estrogen (a known carcinogen), when anti-estrogen drugs are being used in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer?

#####

References:

1. Jovanovic Poole A, et al. Prevention of Brca1-Mediated Mammary Tumorigenesis in Mice by a Progesterone Antagonist. Science 2006:314;5804;1467 - 1470.

2. Dunham W. Abortion pill compound fights breast cancer: study. Reuters, November 30, 2006.  Available at:
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061130/hl_nm/cancer_breast_abortion_dc>.

3. Gardner A. Abortion Pill May Help Prevent Breast Cancer. HealthDay, November 30, 2006.  Available at:
<http://guides.verizon.net/_1_7IWTN2029CLU76__vzn.isp/health?xn=nws&op=health_qad&otmpl=health/hlt-story.htm&qid=536349&qt=>.

4. Press Release, "The Abortion Pill Compound Prevents Breast Tumor Growth," University of California - Irvine, December 3, 2006.
<http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57949>.

The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer is an international women's organization founded to protect the health and save the lives of women by educating and providing information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

Tax-deductible, credit card donations can be made at http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com. Donations can be mailed to: the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, P.O. Box 957133, Hoffman Estates, IL 60195. The IRS recognizes the coalition as a 501(c)3 organization.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer
http://www.AbortionBreastCancer.com

Breast Cancer Prevention Institute
http://www.BCPInstitute.org

Polycarp Research Institute
http://www.polycarp.org