Document 2JkD7KXy8xjw9B5DJaevoQxBb

FILE NAME: Johnson & Johnson (JAJ) DATE: 1972 Sept 19 DOC#: JAJ005 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter from J&J to Barry Castleman NEW BRUNSW ICK. N J. P g 9 P j Septem ber 19, 1972 M r. B arry I. Castlem an 305 W est Biddle Street B altim ore, M aryland 21201 Dear M r. Castlem an: I am taking the lib erty of replyii g to your letter dated August 3, ad d ressed to D r. T . H. Shelie D irector of our Central R esearch L aboratories. F irst, et m e express our a p p re c ia tio n o f your b rin g in g to o u r atten liion your co n ce rn about the p o ssib ility that talc by itse lf m ay be carcin ogen. A s we m arket talc we have re a l concern about ly potential harm ful effects it m ay have and have been monito ing on a continuing b a s is the w orld lite ra tu re on the b iologic ill activ ity o f ta lc . We a re p rim a rily in terested in determ ining rhether the co sm etic use of talc can cause any harm ful effects and at this tim e have no r e a so n to b e lie v e that ta lc alon e w ill iduce n e o p la stic ch an ges. The publication by Kleinfeld (Ar ;h. E x p e r. Health, 14: 663-7, 1967) that you mentioned in your ' etter is fam iliar to us and, a s you know, re p o rts on the inciden ;e of pulm onary cancer in m in e r s w o rk in g in ta lc m in e s w hich c< ntained tr e m o lite and se rp en tin e . I am subm itting som e points^wh ch support our p&Mtion that pure ta lc i s not a carcin o gen which jjnay be o f in te re st to you. The m onitoring of adverse ffects relating to the com m ercial use of a pr qduct that has been m arketed for over 70 y ears by us and used cosm etically for centuries. The continuing rev ie w o f th< w o rld lite r a tu r e on talc shows that it has been \ sed therapeutically when introduced into the pie Ural cavity , has been M r. B arry I. Gastlem an -2- Septem ber 19, 1972 1 introduced into the peritonea] cavity from ruptured su rgical gloves and has been resp ired by in d u strial w o rk ers. In both the p leu ral cavity and the peritoneal cav.ty talc produces lo cal fib ro sis in the tissu e s end to date we have not been able to find any repc rts o f cancer in the extensive m ed ical lite r a tir e on this subject. E x c e ssiv e exposure to talc c iu s e s ta lc o sis in m in e rs, and I know of no d a ti to indicate that can cer o f the lung o ccu rs in such m in ers exposed to talc fre e of a sb e sto s. * 3. C ontrolled stud ies have been conducted in h am sters in which talc w as introduced into lungs and p leu ra and the re su lts showed no can cer developm ent when the an im als w ere followed for their life. T hese data w ere in con trast to resu lts obtained when a sb e sto s w as used in place cf talc. A paper on these stu d ies w ill shortly be reported in the m ed ical lite ra tu re . 4 . In o r d e r to c o n firm the fin din gs r e p o r te d in *3 1, two se p arate, extensive anim al studies a re being con ducted independently in whic h the an im als w ill inhale talc for different tim e perio is and w ill be followed for their lifetim e and then exam ined h istologically. Your com m ent concerning the follow up o f ta lc m in e rs to determ ine the cau se of their death is per inent but is tim e consum ing, and the num bers involved a re relativ ely sm a ll. H ow ever, in ord er to obtain ep id em iological data m ore rapic ly, we a re cu rren tly follow ing an exten sive epid em iological su rvey o f the cau se of death in a la rg e group of in d u strial w o rk ers expose i to talc with a view to d e te r m ining w hether they d iffe r fro m other ap p ro p riate p opu lation s. In addition we a re attem pting to obtain data on the c a u se of death of *V an O rstrand, H .D . : T alc pneumoconi >sis, C h est, 58(1):2, July, 1970 M r. Barry I. Castlem an -3- ) Septem ber 19 1972 talc m in ers and determ ine if the cau se o; death d iffe rs from other populations. I am hopeful that the com m ents [ have subm itted w ill be of a ssista n c e to you. We ap p re ciate your in te re st in w ritin g to u s and look forw ard to supplying you with pertinent published data a s they becom e a v a ila b le . G H S:M M S Sincerely yours, Aj ' W ' G avin H ildic imith, M . D . , F . A . A . P . D irector G liiiical R esearch