Talcum Powder and Possible link to Ovarian Cancer

By

DR. MUKTAR A. GADANYA, MBBS, MSc, FMCPH, MFR

Cumulative medical researchers suggest that there is a link between use of talcum powder for intimate feminine hygiene and development of ovarian cancer.

Even though talcum powder is an essential item in many homes and nurseries across the world, linkage between its use for female perineal hygiene and increased ovarian cancer risk has being on the radar for decades.

In 1971, researchers drew attention to a probable connection between the dusting of female perineum with talcum powder and development of ovarian cancer. They postulated that talc powder enters a woman’s body through the vagina and travels through the cervix to the uterus, before finally reaching the ovaries, where it continuously irritate them and cause cancer.

The world reputable medical journal, The Lancelet, reported that a majority of ovarian tumors had particles of talc intensely entrenched in them.

The Lancet study was followed by a subsequent research published in 1982 in the famous journal, Cancer, which provided important data linking the powder and ovarian cancer. Since then, about 20 researches have showed similar findings.

Three years ago, in June 2013, a study was published by the highly ranked journal Cancer Prevention Research. Their conclusion was that there is risk increase of 20 and 30 percent for women who used talcum powder for perineal hygiene. This research validated the results of an earlier publication by the journal Anticancer Research in 2003, which concluded that use of talcum powder on female genitals increased risk of ovarian cancer by almost 30 percent. The authors arrived at that conclusion after comparing data from 16 separate research works.

In 2013 a woman in the United States who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after 30 years of using talcum powder, sued the manufacture and won the case based on a decision of a jury.

Brief information about the author

Dr. Muktar Gadanya MFR was awarded the National Honour of Member of the Order of Federal Republic (MFR) at the age of 29 years. Muktar is a Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, where he won the prestigious Professor Adetokubo O. Lucas and Dr J.D Soleye Prizes for the Best Graduating Fellow, and Best Public Health Dissertation. He has the Masters degree (MSc) of University of London, United Kingdom, in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research. He was trained on Intervention Mapping for HIV Prevention at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. He was the 2^nd prize winner in The Higher Education Academy Essay competition for postgraduate students in the United Kingdom in 2010. He is a Fellow of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and is a member of the International Consortium for Research and Action against Health Related Stigma (ICRAaS). He has published in learned peer-reviewed academic journals locally and internationally.