Scientists fear particles applied to the private parts may travel to the ovaries and trigger a process of inflammation that allows cancer cells to flourish.
Although previous studies have raised concerns over talc, the latest findings from a study by the Harvard Medical School suggest women who use it are 40 per cent more likely to get ovarian cancer – a much greater risk than first thought.
The study was carried out on more than 3,000 women and researchers found using talc merely once a week raised the risk of cancer by 36 per cent, rising to 41 per cent for those applying powder every day.
Laboratory tests show ovarian cells exposed to talc divide more rapidly – a characteristic sign of cancer. But until recently there was no proof that powder could travel through a woman’s reproductive tract as far as the pelvis and then on to the ovaries.
However, last year, a separate group of doctors at Harvard Medical School identified tiny particles of powder in the pelvis of a 68-year-old woman with advanced ovarian cancer who had used talc every day for 30 years.
Source: Telegraph, 21 September 2008
Chapter: Cancer :: 23 October 2008
