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(8150):1011-2
• Type of article: Letter
• Cited by: 8 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. 002167).

In plain English

This item was a short letter to the editor, not a research study, and it reported no new data. The authors, from the Medicine Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, were replying to Dr Roe, who had responded to their earlier article of 18 August. The authors said the point of that article was that the data were not clear enough either to blame talc or to clear it of a role in ovarian cancer. They objected to the view of Dr Roe, described as a consultant to the cosmetic industry, that further research on talc's biological effects "merits little priority." They asked how adherence to the Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association's voluntary guidelines for making asbestos-free talc was monitored. The authors stated that talc is known to provoke strong inflammatory reactions in the lungs, pleural cavity and peritoneal cavity. They argued that finding talc in normal reproductive organs does not show that its presence in diseased ones is harmless, because it could act as a co-carcinogen. The authors concluded that research into the causes of ovarian cancer must be vigorously pursued.

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: letter to the editor (correspondence replying to another letter); no new study or data
• Exposure: cosmetic talc, discussed as a possible factor in ovarian cancer; the letter asks how voluntary industry guidelines for making asbestos-free talc are monitored
• The authors' conclusion: The authors held that the data were not clear enough either to indict or to absolve talc from a role in causing ovarian cancer. They said research into the causes of ovarian cancer must be vigorously pursued.

Topics

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

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

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)
• 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)
• Evaluation by electron microscopy techniques of asbestos contamination in industrial, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical talcs — L. Paoletti, S. Caiazza, et al. (1984)

Browse more research in Lancet, or return to medical research.