Cosmetic talc and ovarian cancer

Our plain-English summary of Cosmetic talc and ovarian cancer, by D.L. Longo, R.C. Young (Lancet, 1979).

The study

• Authors: D.L. Longo, R.C. Young
• Journal: Lancet
• Published: 1979;2(8138):349-51
• Cited by: 72 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002088).

Abstract

The causes of ovarian cancer are unknown. The increased incidence in industrialised countries suggests an environmental influence. Epidemiological, experimental, and clinical data seem to link asbestos and talc with ovarian cancer. Direct passage of talc or asbestos-contaminated talc through the female reproductive tract to the ovarian surface may play an ætiological role. Further systematic evaluation of talc and asbestos as ovarian carcinogens is needed.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This article, published in The Lancet's 'Controversy' section, was not an original study. The authors, from the US National Cancer Institute, reviewed published epidemiological, animal and clinical evidence on whether cosmetic talc, and the asbestos that may contaminate it, could be linked to ovarian cancer. They described earlier work by others. Rohl and colleagues found detectable tremolite (up to 14% by weight) in half of twenty consumer talc products and chrysotile in two brands. Henderson and colleagues reported talc particles in 10 of 13 ovarian tumours, with no asbestos fibres identified, although doubts had been raised about their technique. In hamsters, talc and benzo(a)pyrene given together induced tumours in 80% of the animals treated. The authors judged the epidemiological studies of talc inconclusive. As a hypothesis, they proposed that talc applied to the perineum, or carried on diaphragms or condoms, could travel through the reproductive tract to the surface of the ovary. The authors concluded that the risk of cosmetic talc had not been fully evaluated. They called for removal of detectable asbestos from talc and for further research.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Opinion and narrative review article (Lancet 'Controversy' section) that reviewed epidemiological, experimental and clinical evidence and proposed a hypothesis; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population; the authors reviewed previously published studies of talc and asbestos in workers, consumer products, animals and ovarian tumour specimens
• Exposure: Cosmetic talc, possibly contaminated with asbestos (tremolite and chrysotile were reported in consumer products in an earlier study), proposed to reach the ovary through perineal application or talc-dusted diaphragms or condoms
• Main results:
  • Reported from an earlier study (Rohl et al.): of twenty consumer talc products, half contained detectable tremolite, up to 14% by weight
  • Reported from the same earlier study: two brands had detectable chrysotile fibres
  • Reported from an earlier study (Henderson et al.): talc particles were found deeply embedded in 75% (10 of 13) of the ovarian tumours studied
  • In that same earlier study, no asbestos fibres were identified
  • Reported from earlier animal studies: talc together with benzo(a)pyrene induced tumours in 80% of hamsters treated; talc alone (and, in a separate study, benzo(a)pyrene alone) did not induce respiratory tumours
  • The authors judged the epidemiological studies of talc exposure to date inconclusive
  • The authors proposed, as a hypothesis, that cosmetic talc deposited in the vagina could reach the surface of the ovary
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the risk of cosmetic talc had not been fully evaluated. They called for enforced removal of detectable asbestos from talc, for primate and cellular studies, for more searches for particles in ovarian cancer specimens, and for epidemiological studies of genital talc use.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that conclusive data on talc were lacking
  • The authors noted that uncertainties about the technique used in the Henderson report had cast doubt on its findings
  • The authors noted that none of the animal studies had clarified what talc does at the cellular level
  • The authors noted that the long latency of presumed talc-induced disease hampers epidemiological study; a prospective study might take more than forty years

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma, Ovarian cancer, Talc and vermiculite.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Cosmetic Talc, Ovarian Cancer, Talc.

Related studies

• Cosmetic talc and ovarian cancer — D.L. Longo, R.C. Young (1979)
• Serous Ovarian Cancer Caused by Exposure to Asbestos and Fibrous Talc in Cosmetic Talc Powders-A Case Series — J.E. Steffen, T. Tran, et al. (2020)
• Amphibole content of cosmetic and pharmaceutical talcs — A.M. Blount (1991)
• Talc, Asbestos, and Epidemiology: Corporate Influence and Scientific Incognizance — T.H. Tran, J.E. Steffen, et al. (2019)
• Mesothelioma Associated With the Use of Cosmetic Talc — J. Moline, K. Bevilacqua, et al. (2020)
• Cosmetic talc as a risk factor for pleural mesothelioma: a weight of evidence evaluation of the epidemiology — B.L. Finley, S.M. Benson, et al. (2017)

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