Document KJKrYJOyv6vpJpbYMzdVxqR20
FILE NAME Talc TALC
DATE 2014
DOC TALC134 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Journal Article - Talc Use and Ovarian
Cancer- Epidemiology Between a Rock and a Hard Place
DOI dju260
First published online September 11 2014
xs
Published by Oxford University Press 2014 This work is written by a US Government employee and is in the public domain in the US
Talc Use and Ovarian Cancer Epidemiology Between a Rock and
a Hard Place
Nicolas Wentzensen Sholom Wacholder
Correspondence to Nicolas Wentzensen MD PhD MS Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer
Drive Room E114 Bethesda MD 20892-9774 mail
Institute 9609 Medical Center
wentzenn@mail.nih.gov
With over 14000 deaths in the United Stated each year ovarian
cancer is the most lethal gynecologic cancer 1 Most ovarian can-
cers are detected at late stage and have poor prognoses Given the
failure at prevention of death by screening for ovarian cancer using CA and transvaginal ultrasound 2 finding potential preventive interventions has greatest promise of reducing ovarian cancer mortality
Ample epidemiologic evidence suggesting that inflammation plays an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis include associa-
Downlade tions of incessant ovulation endometriosis and pelvic inflamma-
tory disease with increased ovarian cancer risk 3 and reduced risks
from observed for regular aspirin users 4
Evidence on perineal talc use as a risk factor for ovarian can-
cer is more equivocal Talc a metamorphic mineral composed of magnesium silicate that absorbs water is a common component of genital powders Naturally talc has similarities to and occurs with asbestos although early studies hypothesized that asbestos
contamination of talc may have a causal role in ovarian carcinogen-
htp:/jnci.oxfrdualsg/ esis later control studies reporting use after cosmetic prod-
in medical or pharmacy records that could be used to confirm or
supplant reported use Therefore reporting bias is of great concern in control studies Previous studies have argued that
a stronger association observed for certain ovarian cancer subtypes
speaks against reporting bias 8 However the clinical presentation
and prognosis of ovarian cancer which varies by ovarian cancer
subtype may differentially affect cases reporting
Further the quantification of tale dose is very difficult Cosmetic
perineal powders vary in talc content Talc can be applied as spray or powder either directly to the genital region using swabs or by application on diaphragms The amount of talc applied or making contact with the ovary may vary substantially by mode of application Particularly the cohort studies suffer from very limited
exposure information The Nurses Health Study which previously reported on talc use collected only information on frequency of talc use per week 11 whereas the Women's Health Initiative 7
only collected information on duration of use not on frequency
So far no epidemiologic study has demonstrated a response relationship between talc use and ovarian cancer risk
ucts became asbestos in the United States continued to show associations
In addition to the difficulties of talc exposure assessment ovarian
by
guest The biological basis of possible talc
cancer is a challenging outcome because of its rarity and heteroge-
carcinogenicity is not neity 12 There is increasing evidence supporting the hypothesis on
understood Direct physical contact of tale with ovarian epithelium that ovarian cancers may derive from different cells of origin For
May may cause chronic inflammation some studies have suggested ret-
example some serous ovarian cancers supposedly originate in the
rograde transport of talc particles through the reproductive tract fallopian tubes while some endometrioid
29
5 A mechanism that would not require direct contact of talc with
cancers may originate in
2016 the tissue at risk is reduction of
ectopic or orthotopic endometrial tissue 13 Reports of a stronger
MUC1 antibodies which are
association of talc use with serous ovarian cancers compared with
associated with lower risk of ovarian cancer 6
other subtypes 8 might suggest that talc
to the fallo-
In this issue of the Journal Houghton and colleagues report on
exposure
pian tubes plays a role in carcinogenesis However the associations
the association between perineal powder use and ovarian cancer
with serous
cancers are not consistent and experimental data are
risk from the observational arm of the Women's Health Initiative lacking Even larger sample sizes and quality subtype data are
WHI 7 Although several control studies have reported needed to establish specific associations
associations between talc use and ovarian cancer risk 8-10 the
Based on the evidence from epidemiologic studies in 2006 the
only previous prospective evaluation of talc use and ovarian can-
International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC classified
cer risk did not find an association with ovarian cancer overall but
geni-
tal talc use as possibly carcinogenic to humans carcinogen group 2B
with serous ovarian cancer the most common and most lethal sub-
14 The limited evidence for this recommendation
based
type 11 With over 400 cases the new study was well powered to
was
pri-
marily on the control studies that showed increased risk of ovar-
confirm previously reported effect sizes 7 However the authors ian cancer From a regulatory perspective cosmetic products do not
found neither an association between perineal powder use with
require review by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA but
ovarian cancer overall nor with specific subtypes
the FDA can act on evidence of harm related to cosmetic products
Assessing the association between talc use and ovarian cancer While the FDA is currently monitoring potential health effects of cos-
risk poses several challenges First and foremost assessment of talc
metic talc use the activities have mainly focused on assuring that cos-
exposure relies purely on report Talc use is not documented metic tale products are asbestos 15 Helpful recommendations
inci.oxfordjournals.org
JNCI [ Editorial 1 of2
to women will need to weigh the benefits of perineal talc use against the potential harms and the effective alternative products for reducing moisture absorption to prevent chafing and rashes no evaluation of term use of alternative products has been undertaken
How do the results from Houghton et al 7 change the assessment of harm related to perineal talc use Overall the evidence
regarding carcinogenicity of talc use remains inconclusive While
reporting bias may explain the positive associations reported from control studies the limitations of cohort studies regarding
possibil- exposure assessment still do not completely eliminate the
ity that talc use is associated with ovarian cancer risk So
where do we go from here Ideally we would want to have quality exposure data on talc use in a cohort setting with periodic updates
on exposure These data are currently not available Ovarian cancer is rare and collecting these data prospectively will take time
Behavioral exposures such as cosmetic talc use are very difficult to
assess even though they are important for etiology and possibly public health Cohort studies need attentive participants long follow detailed histology and large sample size to be helpful control
studies must avoid differential misclassification There does not
seem to be an independent more objective data source that could be
used to assess talc exposure With the current evidence it does not
seem likely that additional conventional epidemiological studies will strengthen the evidence for or against talc carcinogenicity
Other exposures face similar challenges of misclassification and
reporting bias such as diet and physical activity One possible long shot for exposure assessment might be phone apps similar to those
that can improve food frequency assessment or physical activity 16 These technologies could improve quantification of talc use providing detailed data on dose frequency and duration in cohort
study participants Meanwhile cosmetic talc use has substantially
decreased in the United States between 1982 and 2004 17 While the reasons are not clear it is possible that consumers already react to reports of potential harms despite the lack of clear evidence
References
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14. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to
Monographs Humans Talc Not Containing Asbestiform Fibres In IARC
on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Volume 93. Carbon Black Titanium Dioxide and Talc 277-412
15 FDA Talc Food and Drug Administration Homepage 2014 16. Rusin M Arsand E Hartvigsen G. Functionalities and input meth-
ods for recording food intake a systematic review Int J Med Inform
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17. Kelly TD Matos GR Historical Statistics for Commodities in the United States April 9 2014
Mineral
and
Material
Notes The authors report no conflict of interest
Affiliation of author Division of Cancer Epidemiology and National Cancer Institute National Institutes of Health Rockville SW
Genetics MD NW
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