Use of chemical hair straighteners may increase risk for uterine cancer
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Use of chemical hair-straightening products appeared associated with higher risk for uterine cancer among women in the prospective Sister Study cohort, according to data published in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers observed no relationship between other hair products — such as dyes, permanents, bleach and highlights — and uterine cancer.
Background
Chemicals with carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting properties may be found in some hair products, use of which has been linked to increased risk for hormone-sensitive malignancies such as breast and ovarian cancer, according to study background.
“To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiologic study that examined the relationship between straightener use and uterine cancer,” Alexandra J. White, PhD, MSPH, head of the environment and cancer epidemiology group at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said in a press release.
The study included data of 33,947 participants aged 35 to 74 years (mean age, 54.2 years; 85.6% white, 7.4% Black, 4.4% Hispanic/Latina) in the NIEHS-led Sister Study, which evaluated risk factors for breast cancer and other diseases among a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of women with no personal history of breast cancer but who had a sister diagnosed with the disease. Participants self-reported hair product use during the previous 12 months, and researchers used Cox proportional models to calculate associations of hair product use with uterine cancer.
Mean follow-up was 10.9 years.
Results
Among the women, 378 developed uterine cancer.
Women who reported any vs. no use of hair-straightening products within the previous 12 months had an 80% higher adjusted hazard of uterine cancer (HR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.12-2.88), results showed. Those who reported using straightening products more than four times in the previous year had a more than two times higher likelihood of being diagnosed with incident uterine cancer than those who never used the products (HR = 2.55; 95% CI, 1.46-4.45).
“We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70 [years], but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%,” White said in the press release. “This doubling rate is concerning. However, it is important to put this information into context — uterine cancer is a relatively rare type of cancer.”
Use of dyes, body waves or permanents did not appear associated with incident uterine cancer.
The majority (59.9%) of women who ever used hair straighteners self-identified as Black, researchers noted, although the association of use with risk for uterine cancer did not differ according to race.
“[However,] because Black women use hair-straightening or relaxer products more frequently and tend to initiate use at earlier ages than other races and ethnicities, these findings may be even more relevant for them,” Che-Jung Chang, PhD, a research fellow in the NIEHS epidemiology branch and author on the study, said in the press release.
Implications
The findings need to be confirmed in different populations, and efforts should be made to identify the specific chemical ingredients that may result in the higher uterine cancer rates, researchers wrote.
The results indicate an opportunity exists to develop interventions that could reduce women’s risk for cancer, Adana A. M. Llanos, PhD, MPH, of the department of epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and colleagues wrote in an accompanying editorial.
“Many women who use chemical relaxers and hair straighteners begin doing so during adolescence and young adulthood, and use of these products is not limited to the United States,” the editorial authors wrote. “This reality, coupled with global increases in uterine cancer incidence, suggests that policy change and evidence-based interventions to reduce exposure to potentially hazardous hair products and other [personal care products] could be impactful for cancer prevention and control and provide a multitude of benefits for population health.”
References :
- Chang C-J, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022;doi:10.1093/jnci/djac165.
- Hair straightening chemicals associated with higher uterine cancer risk. Available at: www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsroom/releases/2022/october17/index.cfm. Published Oct. 17, 2022. Accessed Oct. 17, 2022.
- Llanos AAM, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022;doi:10.1093/jnci/djac169.
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