Today, we’re delighted to share a guest blog post from the team at Mesothelioma Guide.  Mesothelioma Guide connects mesothelioma patients and their loved ones to top doctors, cancer centres and treatment options, plus legal resources. In today’s feature, they dispel the myth that the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, has been eradicated since the introduction of legislation restricting the use of asbestos.

---

In the latter half of the 20th century, the general public learned of asbestos’ dangers. They learned the substance is, in fact, a carcinogen, one which can lead to aggressive diseases such as mesothelioma.

The awareness of asbestos’ harm led to increased regulations worldwide and scrutiny of businesses which used the mineral. Most people expected asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma to level off early in the 21st century and eventually fade into obscurity.

This has not happened — nor will it any time soon.

According to the World Journal of Surgery, pleural mesothelioma cases in the United States increased from 2004 to 2014. The World Health Organization revealed that around 43,000 people worldwide die from this cancer. Despite more than 60 countries banning the commercial use of asbestos, the mesothelioma mortality rate has increased worldwide since the 1990s. This is proof that mesothelioma isn’t going anywhere.

National Cancer Database on Mesothelioma

In 2004, there were 1,783 pleural mesothelioma cases in the United States. In 2014, there were 1,961 reported cases. That’s an increase of around 10%.

Pleural mesothelioma accounts for between 70% and 80% of all U.S. mesothelioma cases and the same is true globally. Peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma comprise the other 20-30% of cases.

According to numerous sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are usually between 3,000 and 3,300 new mesothelioma cases in the U.S. each year. From 2012-2016, there were on average 3,253 new cases each year. In 2016 alone, 3,096 mesothelioma cases were reported.

The World Health Organization estimates that 10,000 new mesothelioma cases each year are diagnosed collectively in Australia, Japan, North America and western Europe.

In the United Kingdom, the incidence of mesothelioma has increased steadily each year from the 1950s (153 cases) to 2010 (2,360 cases). Like we said earlier, this disease isn’t going away.

But…

Mesothelioma Treatment Is Improving

 Science continually evolves, which means treatment for diseases continuously improves. Mesothelioma treatment is getting better, which is good news for patients and their loved ones.

Earlier in 2019, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Novo TTF-100L medical device for pleural mesothelioma treatment. It is limited to humanitarian use device distinction, but this approval was a significant moment for mesothelioma patients and doctors.

Peritoneal mesothelioma treatment is expanding as well. Many patients receive cytoreductive surgery, plus heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) immediately after the operation. In a study published by the Annals of Surgical Oncology, around 55% of participants who underwent this treatment combination survived for at least three years. Roughly 37% survived for at least five years.

This study only included a few peritoneal mesothelioma patients, and other studies have reported different percentages:

• Between 50% and 65% for three-year survival
• Between 35% and 47% for five-year survival

Mesothelioma Patients Undergoing Treatment More Often

The best route to healing from mesothelioma is undergoing treatment. Surgery is the first choice followed by chemotherapy and radiation. If more patients receive medical help, then more of them will survive longer.

In 2004, treatment and survival rates in the U.S. were as follows:

• Approximately 34% of pleural mesothelioma patients underwent treatment.
• Around 37% of them survived for at least one year after diagnosis.
• Roughly 9% survived for at least three years.

In 2014, the rates were better:

• Around 54% of mesothelioma patients received treatment.
• Roughly 47% survived for at least one year after diagnosis.
• Approximately 15% survived for at least three years.

So, more people are getting treatment for their mesothelioma, and more people are surviving for longer after diagnosis.

How to Find Mesothelioma Treatment

We at Mesothelioma Guide can help patients find quality treatment and potentially extend their lives. Our patient advocate and registered nurse, Jenna Campagna, has connections to the top cancer centres in the USA.

If you or a loved one has mesothelioma, remember that treatment now is better than ever before. Jenna works with patients every day to improve their quality of life and prognosis. Email her at jenna@mesotheliomaguide.com if you wish to explore your treatment options.

More Information

If you have any questions on mesothelioma or would like any further information, you can leave your question for Mesothelioma Guide in the comments section below. Alternatively,  you can visit Mesothelioma Guide’s website here,  like their Facebook Page or follow them on Twitter.

Sources

1. Largely Unchanged Annual Incidence and Overall Survival of Pleural Mesothelioma in the USA. World Journal of Surgery. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00268-019-05132-6. Accessed: 08/23/2019.
2. Global mesothelioma deaths reported to the World Health Organization between 1994 and World Health Organization. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/10/11-086678/en/. Accessed: 04/22/2020.
3. Global mesothelioma epidemic: Trend and features. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4280782/. Accessed: 04/22/2020.
4. Update on the management of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Translational Lung Cancer Research. Retrieved from: http://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/23788/18535. Accessed: 08/23/2019.
5. Effect of Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy on Quality of Life in Patients with Peritoneal Mesothelioma. Annals of Surgical Oncology. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31069554. Accessed: 05/16/2019.
6. Survival prognostic factors in patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy treatment: analysis from a single oncological center. WorldJournal of Surgical Oncology. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4815060/. Accessed: 04/12/2019.

Lake Health and Wellbeing is  happy to support Dafina Malovska’s campaign calling on the UK’s Department of Health to introduce annual gynaecological check-ups for every woman in the UK. We believe a policy like this will save many lives by enabling the early diagnosis of gynaecological cancers that have no screening programmes – ovarian, womb, vulval and vaginal cancers.

Also, annual check-ups can assist in the early diagnosis of a range of conditions that significantly affect women’s quality of life, such as fibroids and endometriosis.

You can show your support by signing Dafina’s petition here and please read the article below to find out more about this issue.

---

At the age of 35, Dafina Malovska was diagnosed with stage 2 womb cancer which had spread to her ovaries. Her only option, at the time, was to have a total hysterectomy (the removal of her womb and both ovaries) which sadly deprived her of having her own children and plunged her into an immediate surgical menopause.

Dafina was lucky that her cancer was diagnosed at a fairly early stage and she survived, but many women are not so lucky and are diagnosed at a late stage when it is too late for successful treatment.  The late diagnosis of these gynaecological cancers occur, in part, because there is no screening programme for most of these cancers.

Currently in the UK cervical cancer is the only gynaecological cancer with a screening programme and this has successfully reduced the incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer.

Developing a cancer screening test is challenging and researchers across the world are working tirelessly to develop screening tests for those cancers that require one.  Until then, when it comes to womb, ovarian, vulval and vaginal cancers, women have to be aware of the signs and symptoms, but this can be problematic as it can be hard to identify symptoms as the symptoms of these types of cancers are similar to a range of other conditions which can lead to misdiagnosis.

For example, in February 2014, before Dafina was diagnosed with womb cancer she started experiencing extreme bloating and visited her doctor almost monthly. Eventually her symptoms were wrongly attributed to gluten-related bloating and by November of that year Dafina became very unwell while abroad and it was subsequently discovered that she had 14cm tumour weighing 500g .

If Dafina had access to an annual gynaecological check-up her tumour could have been discovered earlier before it had spread to her ovaries.

In many countries throughout the world, girls and women have annual gynaecological examinations and it’s important that the UK explores this approach as its survival rates for gynaecological cancers such as ovarian cancer are significantly lower than other countries’ rates.

Change is needed and you can make a difference by signing Dafina’s petition which appeals to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock MP, and the Minister for Women and Equality, Penny Mordaunt, to explore the introduction of annual gynaecological check-ups for women in the UK.

The first target for this petition is 10,000 signatures and her ultimate target is 100,000.  So far, Dafina has been able to secure 3,723 signatures. When her target is achieved, her petition will be presented to Matt Hancock and Penny Mordaunt.

Dafina would be very grateful if you could please sign, share and spread the word and for more information, you can follow her campaign on Instagram

World Cancer Day is on 4^th February and it  gives the world the opportunity to come together to raise awareness and campaign on key issues to improve the care, support and treatment given to patients.

Organisers, the UICC,  announced that the theme for World Cancer Day is #IAmAndIWill and this theme highlights that fact that whoever you are, you have the power to reduce the impact of cancer for yourself, the people you love and for the world.

The campaign therefore encourages everyone to make a commitment by using the hashtag and sharing who you are and what you will commit to in order to tackle cancer.

Our #IamAndIWill Commitment for 2019-2021

Our World Cancer Day commitment is to focus on children and raise awareness of the fact that overweight or obese children are more likely to become overweight or obese adults, and being overweight as an adult increases a person’s risk of developing cancer. In  fact, the World Cancer Research Fund has found that being overweight or obese throughout adulthood is linked to an increased risk of developing 12 types of cancer.

Our campaign appeals to parents to reduce their children’s future cancer risk by ensuring they’re a healthy weight now, and this can be achieved by ensuring that children:

• Are physically active and take part in 60 minutes of physical activity every day
• Eat a healthy diet

Childhood obesity is a significant challenge here in St Kitts and Nevis. A PAHO report revealed that 33% of secondary school children in the twin island state were overweight and 14% were obese. More recently, in 2017, a UNICEF report stated that 26% of children in St Kitts and Nevis are obese.  We have to tackle childhood obesity to improve the health of our children to ensure they become happy, healthy adults.

We believe that by beating childhood obesity we can also contribute to beating cancer, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

“I am Lake Health and Wellbeing and I will make an impact by spreading the word

about childhood obesity increasing a child’s future cancer risk” – #IamAndIWill

 

What We’re Doing Beyond World Cancer Day

Our work doesn’t stop after World Cancer Day, we’re working to beat childhood obesity all year round through our new childhood obesity prevention project. 

We’re currently working on developing innovative resources to get children active so they can easily get to and maintain a healthy weight.

How You Can Get Involved

You can get involved by raising awareness on social media and sharing your thoughts on this issue. You can use any of the images below or the short video clips below.

                                                               

                                                               

Also, we’d love it if you could support us by making a donation, which will go towards our childhood obesity prevention project.

You can make a donation below:

[asp_product id=”5804″]

Thank you for any support you’re able to provide and we hope you’ll join us for World Cancer Day to #BeatChildhoodObesity and #BeatCancer

References

1. UNICEF, Situation Analysis of Children in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area and the Government of St Kitts and Nevis, Christ Church, Barbados, 2017
2. PAHO, Health in the Americas, 2012: St Kitts and Nevis, PAHO, 2012
3.  World Cancer Research Fund, Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: A Global Perspective,  World Cancer Research Fund International, London, UK, 2018.

Cancer Research UK has reported that its scientists have developed a very comprehensive method of predicting a women’s risk of developing breast cancer.

This work was recently published in Genetics in Medicine where it was explained that by combining information on family history, genetics and other factors like weight, age at menopause, alcohol consumption and use of hormone replacement therapy, scientists are able to determine a woman’s breast cancer risk.

What makes their prediction more precise than previous methods is that researchers, for the first time, included 300 genetic indicators for breast cancer in their risk calculation.

This piece of work has led to the development of an online calculator that General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK can use in their surgeries. Currently this online  calculator is being tested by GPs, nurses and genetic counsellors before it is released nation-wide. The hope is that this tool will enable healthcare professionals to explore early detection and prevention strategies for women based on their risk and therefore improve survival rates for breast cancer.

Although this work is very exciting more work is needed, as expressed by lead author, Professor Antonis Antoniou, who said:

“It could be a game changer for breast cancer because now we can identify large numbers of women with different levels of risk – not just women who are at high risk.

 

This should help doctors to tailor the care they provide depending on their patients’ level of risk. For example, some women may need additional appointments with their doctor to discuss screening or prevention options and others may just need advice on their lifestyle and diet.

 

“We hope this means more people can be diagnosed early and survive their disease for longer, but more research and trials are needed before we will fully understand how this could be used.”

Additionally, Dr Richard Rope, Cancer Research UK’s GP expert warned that:

“Research like this is hugely exciting because in the future it will enable us to offer much more tailored care which will benefit patients and make best use of the services that we have available.

 

“Although having an increased risk of breast cancer means a woman is more likely to develop the disease – it’s by no means a certainty. A woman at high risk may never get breast cancer just as a woman at low risk still could. But any woman with concerns should speak to her GP to discuss the options.”

For more information on this work, you can read Cancer Research UK’s research paper here

Back in November 2017 we published a blog post where we summarised research on hair dyes, relaxers and breast cancer, and (sigh) we’re sorry to say we’re back here again writing about black hair products and their harmful effects.

A couple of weeks ago the results from another research study was published and this showed that 80% of black hair products contain endocrine disrupting and asthma causing chemicals. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are of concern as some studies have linked these chemicals to hormone-related health conditions including breast cancer and fibroids.

Latest Research

On 25^th April 2018, researchers from the Silent Spring Institute and Battelle Memorial Institute in the USA published the results from their study which investigated the endocrine disrupting and asthma-associated chemical content of black hair products. They tested 18 black hair products that cut across 6 types of products. These included hot oil treatments, anti-frizz/polish, leave-in conditioners, root stimulators, hair lotions and relaxers. Within these products they tested for the presence of 66 chemicals including BPA, phthalates (a solvent) and parabens (a preservative).

What Did They Find?

Researchers found that the black hair products tested contained 45 endocrine disrupting or asthma-associated chemicals. They stated that they found cyclosiloxanes (used for conditioning and spreadability), parabens and the fragrance marker diethyl phthalate (DEP) at the highest levels, and DEP most frequently in these products.

In their study, root stimulators, hair lotions and relaxers more frequently contained nonylphenols, parabens and fragrances whilst anti-frizz products tended to contain cyclosiloxanes.  Worryingly hair relaxers for children contained five chemicals that are regulated by California’s Proposition 65 or were prohibited from being used in the EU.

What we found particularly disturbing was that ingredients lists were incomplete, meaning that the researchers found chemicals in the products that were not listed on product labels. This is disturbing because many women do try to avoid chemicals such as parabens, but researchers found that butyl and ethyl paraben were never listed on labels and 12% of products with methyl paraben didn’t include this on their label. This is extremely misleading and means that women can’t make an informed choice about the products they purchase. Other chemicals that were frequently not included on ingredients lists were fragrance chemicals and cyclosiloxanes.

You can listen to  Dr. Jessica Helm from the Silent Spring Institute and Tola Okogwu from My Long Hair Journey discuss this latest study in the video below.

California’s Proposition 65 and EU Regulation

There are regulations in place to protect consumers and deter manufactures from including chemicals that are hazardous to our health in their products. Two such regulations are Proposition 65 and the European Union Cosmetics Directive.

California’s Proposition 65, more formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, aims to “help Californians make informed decisions about protecting themselves from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.” By law, all businesses selling products to people in California must ensure clear and reasonable warnings are included on items that contain harmful chemicals so that people are aware that they will be exposed these chemicals. Some chemicals that are regulated by Prop 65 are o-phenylphenol, BPA, phthalate, ethanolamine and benzophenone.  Businesses don’t have to include any warnings if the chemicals are at concentrations that don’t pose a health risk. Now, in this current study,  it was found that even though two no-lye hair relaxers for children contained a Prop 65 regulated chemical, no warnings were included, and researchers made the point that these would not meet the Prop 65 labelling requirements.

The EU Cosmetics Directive states that all cosmetic products sold in the EU must be safe and they prohibit the inclusion of chemicals in products that have been shown to cause cancer, female reproductive toxicity and developmental toxicity. Some of the compounds prohibited by the EU include BPA, phthalate, alkylphenol and ethanolamine. In this study, some products were found to contain products prohibited by EU law – BPA, phthalate, nonylphenol and diethanolamine. So these products would not be fit for sale in the EU.

What Can We Do?

Well… ladies, we must demand better from brands. We must see what we can do to get companies to remove these chemicals from their products. In the meantime, we have to be very selective and only buy from brands that sell products that are safe, but this can be hard to do if brands are not listing all the chemicals in their products on their labels.

 Here are some brands that we use, or have used in the past, and we believe are safe, but we recommend that you do your research too.

Afrocenchix
Almocado
Camille Rose Naturals
Pure Goodnes
Root2Tip
Shea Butter Cottage
Shea Decadence
Yaphene

Finally, we are currently in discussions with the team behind My Long Hair Journey to see what we can do to start addressing this problem. We’ll keep you updated and let you know how these discussions go. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on this topic. How do you feel about this new piece of research and are you concerned about the hair products that you use?

More Information

You can download the full research paper below as well as the study’s supplementary material which lists the brands tested in this study and information about EU regulation and California’s Prop 65. And, you can purchase some of the products from the brands listed above on Amazon below.

 

 

Yesterday, we were delighted to attend the St Kitts World Cancer Day Luncheon. This was an event organised as a celebration of hope to honour the lives of cancer survivors in St Kitts and Nevis. The event was organised by the Health Promotion Unit at the Ministry of Health with support from Lake Health and Wellbeing and the Department of Youth Empowerment.

The event featured talks from high-profile guests including the Minister of State with responsibility for Health, Social and Community Services and Gender Affairs, Minister Wendy Phipps and Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws.

We also heard from cancer survivors who shared their experience very powerfully through poetry and testimonies. Carla Astaphan recited her poem Left Breastie which she wrote shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and Agness Farell spoke of her experience of being diagnosed in 1998, she recounted her ups and downs and the formation of her support group Reach for Recovery.

In addition to these presentations, the Coordinator of Community Nursing Services, Nurse Eulynis Brown gave a very informative overview of cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine which will soon be introduced in St Kitts and encouraged attendees to support the Ministry in its roll-out as it’s a very effective method of preventing cervical cancer.

The highlight of the event was the presentation made to the longest living, oldest and youngest cancer survivors. It was moving to see the longest living cancer survivor being recognised, she was diagnosed 21 years ago and faced both breast and lung cancer. Despite all her challenges, now at the age of 82, she is so positive, happy and full of life; a true hero and inspiration to us all.

This was a positive and uplifting event which demonstrated the strength of the human spirit and we were honoured to have attended and been asked to deliver the vote of thanks.

The Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean was launched in July 2015 as part of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States’ mandate for its residents.  The centre is based in Antigua, is the first of its kind in the Caribbean and aims to provide the highest quality of care to its patients.  It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and facilities and the care delivered is based on the Partnered Care Model where the delivery of healthcare involves the private sector, public sector and the general public, making treatment affordable to patients.

Their Services

The centre offers its patients the following services:

Medical Concierge Service – patients will be arriving from a number of Eastern Caribbean countries and having to travel for treatment can be a daunting and draining experience for patients. To ease the burden of travel the centre has set up a medical concierge service. Upon arrival in Antigua patients will be met by a member of the centre’s concierge team. They will be assisted with their luggage and transported to their guest house and transportation can be arranged to take patients to  and from their appointments at the centre.

Treatment Consultations –  all patients will have a professional and comprehensive consultation with an oncologist. At this appointment the patient’s test results and medical records will be reviewed and a treatment plan developed,  any additional tests that are required will be done in-house at the centre.

Chemotherapy –  a wide range of chemotherapy is available and the highest standards of delivery can be expected from the centre.

Radiotherapy –  External beam radiation therapy is also available using state-of-the-art equipment.

Who can access the centre?

The cancer centre serves all residents of the OECS member states as well as patients from outside the OECS. They see insured patients, private patients and government sponsored patients.

More Information

For more information about the centre please contact them using the details below:

The Cancer Centre Easter Caribbean
The Medical Pavilion Antigua
Michael’s Mount
Queen Elizabeth Highway
P.O. Box W599
St John’s, Antigua, W.I.

Tel: 1-268-460-6000
Fax: 1-268-460-6000
Email: info@TMP-Antigua.com
Website: http://www.thecancercentreeasterncaribbean.com

 

Story update:  The Canadian government’s alcohol  and  cancer warning label experiment has been halted due to pressure from the alcohol industry who threatened legal action for defamation and trademark infringement.

Many drinkers are unaware that alcohol causes a number of cancers including breast and bowel cancer. In order to raise awareness of this the Yukon government, in collaboration with researchers, has introduced labels on alcoholic drinks warning that alcohol causes cancer. The labels also provide recommendations on safe alcohol consumption for men and women as well as advising that people should plan to have two or more non-drinking days a week.

This new initiative was a challenge to implement as Yukon is a small jurisdiction and couldn’t influence drinks manufacturers to change their labelling. Therefore the Yukon Liquor Corporation and Public Health Ontario researcher, Erin Hobin, affixed the labels to thousands of bottles themselves.

These labels are a world’s first. No other country warns drinkers, through labelling on drinks, that alcohol causes breast or bowel cancer; South Korea highlights the link between alcohol and liver cancer and the US only warns of the dangers of drunk driving and risks of drinking while pregnant.

Researcher Erin Hobbs explained the reasoning behind the labelling:

“Alcohol is such a big part of our culture in Canada. We’re inundated with alcohol marketing that shows us how much fun alcohol is. It’s part of most of our celebrations … (But) consumers have a right to know the health risks if they do choose to drink alcohol. If they do choose to drink, they can do so in a safer manner.”

Alcohol is not just linked to breast and bowel cancer, but has also been linked to cancers of the mouth, upper throat, food pipe, voice box and liver.  The number one cancer impacted by alcohol is breast cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer  has classified alcohol as a type 1 carcinogen, which means there is the highest level of evidence to suggest that it does cause cancer.

It is hoped that governments will follow Yukon’s example as awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer is very low and people need to have this information so they can make an informed decision about their drinking habits, and hopefully protect their health.

Over the years there have been numerous questions and concern about the impact chemicals in hair products have on our health. This concern has been heightened in the black community for some time, particularly with respect to relaxers (chemical hair straighteners).

Several studies have been conducted exploring if there is a link between hair products and fibroids, cancer and other conditions, but these have been inconclusive. When a link has been shown researchers have been cautious explaining that association doesn’t mean causation – i.e. they couldn’t prove that relaxers actually contribute to the development of fibroids or cancer and therefore they all recommended that more research should be conducted.

Latest Research

In June of this year, researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey published the results from their research into specific hair products and whether their use is associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.  In this study, researchers looked at 4,285 African America and white women; 2,280 had breast cancer and 2,005 didn’t. The study compared those with breast cancer to those who didn’t have breast cancer to determine if differences existed that may  be linked to breast cancer risk.   The women were aged 20-75 and were from New York City and ten counties n New Jersey.

The study aimed to determine if hair dyes, relaxers and deep conditioners containing cholesterol or placenta were associated with an increased risk in developing breast cancer. In order to explore this researchers collected vast amounts of data on the women who took part in the study. This included socio-demographic data and their exposure to known risk factors such as family and personal history of breast cancer, smoking, alcohol consumption and more. They also asked participants about their use of the previously mentioned hair products, what shade of dye they used and  how long they used these products for.

What did they find?

The researchers found that for African American women there was a 51% increase in their risk of developing breast cancer among those who used dark brown or black hair dye. They also found that in African American women there was a 72% increase in oestrogen-positive breast cancers amongst those who used dark brown or black dyes and a 36% increase in oestrogen-positive breast cancers in those who used dyes more frequently.

In white women they found a 74% increase in breast cancer risk in those who used relaxers and a large increase in risk in women who used both relaxers and hair dyes. They also found that use of hair dyes resulted in a 54% increase in risk of developing oestrogen-positive breast cancers whilst relaxer use caused a 2.6 fold increase in oestrogen-negative breast cancers.

There was no link between deep conditioners and breast cancer.

What does this mean?

The researchers concluded that “these novel findings support a relationship between the use of some hair products and breast cancer.”

When speaking about their work, lead author of the research paper, Adana Llanos said

“Just because we found these associations doesn’t mean that if you dye your hair dark, or any colour, you’re going to get breast cancer, but at the same time, the study points to something else we should be mindful of.”

The results exposed a significant association with oestrogen-positive breast cancers so the current hypothesis is that the dyes may contain chemical compounds that are similar to oestrogen or stimulate pathways that cause the production of oestrogen. It was hard to determine this as women in the study weren’t asked what brands of products they used so researchers couldn’t explore the actual chemicals within these products that women were exposed to. But Alana Llanos said:

      “There must be some role for oestrogen for sure.”

Her research team recognise that there were limitations to the study and that further work is needed to truly understand the link between hair products and breast cancer risk.

Our Thoughts

The Lake Foundation is pleased to see more research in this area being conducted and this work needs to continue until we have a definitive answer as to whether hair products affect our health or not. In the meantime, we would advise that women take a look at this research and make an informed decision as to whether they should continue using hair dyes and relaxers.  We always say  people should exercise caution in the use of products where there is found to be a credible association with cancer, or any disease, until a clear answer can be provided on whether that association means that a particular product contributes to the development of a disease.

More Information

You can read the full research paper for this study here

In September, the World Cancer Research Fund published the latest data from their Continuous Update Project on cancer prevention highlighting what increases and decreases our risk of developing cancer.

Their summary is a very concise, easy-to-read booklet based on the latest evidence on risk factors for cancer. One of their main messages is that one third of the most common cancers could be prevented by a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active.

Their summary is divided into three sections:

• Strong evidence on what increases cancer risk
• Strong evidence on what decreases cancer risk
• Cancer prevention recommendations

When looking at what increases cancer risk, factors such as being overweight or obese, consuming alcohol, processed meat and red meat are listed as well as a number of other factors. Whilst non-starchy vegetables, fruit,  physical activity, dietary fibre, wholegrain and a number of other factors are listed as reducing cancer risk.

The WCRF end their summary with a list of cancer prevention recommendations as follows:

• Be a healthy weight
• Move more
• Avoid high calorie foods and sugary drinks
• Enjoy more grains, veg and beans
• Limit red meat and processed meat
• Don’t drink alcohol
• Eat less salt
• Avoid mouldy grains and cereals
• Don’t rely on supplements, eat a healthy diet
• If you can, breastfeed your baby

WCRF Continuous Update Project is an ongoing initiative to review global research on cancer prevention focusing on how lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and weight impact our risk of developing cancer.  Based on these findings the WCRF will update their Cancer Prevention Recommendations which they hope will provide the public, governments and charitable organisations with accurate information on how to reduce cancer risk.

For more information you can download the full summary below or visit the WCRF’s website.