“We saw this association between hair straighteners and breast, ovarian and now uterine cancers, which is a consistent finding among hormonally driven female reproductive cancers.” Dr White said.
The researchers did not collect information on the brands or ingredients of the hair products used by the study participants. chemicals may be involved in an increased risk of uterine cancer, and some of those chemicals have endocrine disrupting properties. Exposure may be more of a concern than other personal care products. This is because it may increase absorption through the scalp, exacerbating burns and damage caused by straighteners.
Hair products and other cosmetic products do not require approval by the Food and Drug Administration in order to be marketed. No need to test.
As part of the study analysis, scientists looked at other factors that may influence cancer risk, including body mass index, physical activity, menopausal status, smoking, alcohol use, and hormone use for contraception or replacement therapy. Women working in beauty salons and barbershops were excluded from the analysis to eliminate the possibility of occupational exposure affecting the study results. Women with uterine cancer tended to be older, had earlier menarche or menstrual onset, had a higher body mass index, and were less physically active.
Women who did not frequently use hair straighteners also had an increased risk of developing uterine cancer, but that was not statistically significant and could have been an accidental finding, according to the study.
Uterine cancer is increasing rapidly. The number of cases diagnosed each year has increased from 39,000 just 15 years ago to 65,950 this year.
The sister study cohort included 50,884 women aged 35 to 74 years who had at least one sister with breast cancer at the time of enrollment from 2003 to 2009, but who themselves had breast cancer. It wasn’t breast cancer. About 7.4% were black, 4.4% Hispanic, 85.6% white, and 2.5% of other races or ethnicities. Approximately 15,585 participants who had a hysterectomy prior to enrollment were not included in this analysis. This analysis examined 378 uterine cancer cases identified with nearly 11 years of follow-up.