sain sähköpostin jossa kerrotaan deodorantin yhteydestä

Antiperspirants Do Not Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, October 16, 2002





Background and study design: The rumor that using underarm deodorant or antiperspirant can cause breast cancer has circulated for years on the Internet. Yet there has never been any scientific basis for such a claim.



Still, it' s easy to understand why some women worry that there might be a link between underarm hygiene products and breast cancer: The underarm is so close to the breast, and when you use deodorant or antiperspirant you might worry about chemicals getting into your body through the skin, and making their way to the breast. Or you might worry about sweat building up inside and somehow harming the lymph nodes in the breast area.



Many women are also concerned that antiperspirants might contain cancer-causing substances that enter the body through small nicks or scrapes in the armpit that occur while shaving.



Recently, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle conducted a scientific study on the possible link between breast cancer and deodorant or antiperspirant use. They studied more than 1,600 women with and without breast cancer:



810 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and

793 women who were not affected by the disease.

All of the women were between the ages of 20 and 74, and all of them lived in western Washington State.



The researchers conducted in-person interviews with all the women.



These are some of the questions the women answered:



Have you ever used underarm antiperspirant on a regular basis?

Have you ever used underarm antiperspirant EXCLUSIVELY on a regular basis (versus deodorant or talc-based products)?

Have you regularly shaved under your arms one hour or less before or after using antiperspirant?

Researchers asked the women the same questions about deodorants.



Results and conclusions: The researchers found out that:



Most of the women had regularly used antiperspirant or deodorant at some point in their lives.

More than 90% of the women in both groups had regularly used some form of underarm hair removal¿most commonly shaving with a blade razor.

More than a third of the women in both groups had applied antiperspirant or deodorant within one hour of shaving.

When they compared the two groups in the study, the researchers found NO evidence of an increased risk of breast cancer linked to any of the following:



using antiperspirant or deodorant

using antiperspirant or deodorant and shaving with a blade razor

using antiperspirant or deodorant within one hour of shaving with a blade razor

Because these findings are based on data collected from a large number of women, the researchers believe their conclusions are reliable. They hope that by publishing these results they can help ease the concern many women have had about using these products.



Take-home message: Hopefully, this study will help to calm women' s fears about antiperspirant and deodorant use and breast cancer.



In addition to this research, there are also physiological explanations for why there is no real connection between deodorant and antiperspirant use and breast cancer. For a detailed discussion of this issue, read our section on why Antiperspirants Do NOT Cause Breast Cancer.