No association between abortion and risk of breast cancer among nulliparous women: Evidence from a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Various epidemiological studies have demonstrated the association between abortion and risk of breast cancer among nulliparous women; however, results remain inconclusive. This meta-analysis assessed the association based on previous studies. METHODS: PubMed, EMBase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP, and Wanfang databases were searched for relevant articles until February 2018. In this meta-analysis, fixed-effects models were used to estimate the combined effect size and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). All statistical data were analyzed using STATA 12.0. RESULTS: A total of 14 articles consisting of 6 cohort studies and 8 case-control studies were included in this review. All articles were of high quality, as determined based on the Newcastle Ottawa Scale assessment. The combined risk ratio (RR) indicated no significant association between abortion and breast cancer among nulliparous women (RR = 1.023, 95%CI = 0.938–1.117; Z = 0.51, P = .607). Subgroup analyses revealed no significant associations between risk of breast cancer and induced abortion or between risk of breast cancer and spontaneous abortion (SA) among nulliparous women (RR = 1.008, 95% CI = 0.909-1.118 and RR = 1.062, 95%CI = 0.902-1.250, respectively). Neither 1 nor >2 abortions increased the risk of breast cancer among nulliparous women. Sensitivity analysis showed that our results were reliable and stable. CONCLUSION: Current evidence based on epidemiological studies showed no association between abortion and risk of breast cancer among nulliparous women.