Can Deodorant Really Increase The Risk of Breast Cancer? Inside The Long-Running, Controversial Debate

Most of the fear about toxicity in antiperspirants and deodorants are related to their active ingredients, aluminum-based compounds that block sweat glands. While it’s not entirely clear how much aluminum the skin actually absorbs, it is clear that using the products does increase slightly the amount of aluminum in the body. Many fear that this presence of aluminum compounds in women could possibly cause changes in the estrogen receptors of the breasts, leading to cancerous cell growth.

Many studies, like an influential 2002 report that was published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, have found no evidence that using antiperspirants and deodorants increased the risk for breast cancer. The researchers, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, investigated a control group of 813 women with breast cancer and 793 without the disease, finding that neither usage of the products nor the combination of underarm shaving and deodorant led to increased likelihood of cancer.

More recent studies, however, have been more cautious about using aluminum compounds on skin. British and Italian researchers in 2013 published a series of articles in The Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry that traced the increased presence of aluminum in cancerous breast cells. The researchers analyzed breast fluid in patients undergoing breast cancer treatment and found that the samples had higher presence of aluminum than those without cancer. While the researchers stopped short of suggesting a causal relationship between the use of household and hygienic products and breast cancer, they did advise further research into the potential relationship between aluminum compounds and cancer risk. Despite the fact that the researchers were not attempting to show a direct link, they still advised reducing the use of aluminum compounds on the skin. particularly in the underarm region.

The next step in the research into this issue will likely focus on how much aluminum the skin absorbs, and whether this absorption may explain the presence of increased aluminum rates in the breast fluid of cancer patients. If researchers can prove these absorptive qualities, then they may be able to draw more direct lines between aluminum antiperspirants and deodorants and the higher rates of aluminum in cancerous breast fluid.

One physician who is particularly passionate about this potential link is Dr. Michael Greger, a nutritionist and advocate of vegan eating who has decried the presence of chemicals in a wide range of products. Dr. Greger recently published an article via his website, NutritionFacts.org, exploring the potential causality between antiperspirant/deodorant use and breast cancer, particularly in people who apply deodorant shortly after shaving. Dr. Greger believes that the aluminum is in fact absorbed in higher quantities than has been acknowledged, citing the case of a woman in 2004 who experienced symptoms of aluminum poisoning as a seemingly direct result of her deodorant use. He believes that the products will become increasingly linked over time to cancer, and that they enter the body primarily through pores that are exposed via shaving. While Dr. Greger's findings are not yet widely reflected in medical research and literature, he is at the forefront of a continued effort to determine whether limiting aluminum-based products may in fact help to lower overall breast cancer rates.

At this juncture, however, it is also crucial to remember that these potential links are unproven and unlikely to play a major role in most diagnoses. Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Medical Center, talked to SurvivorNet about the facts patients should know about deodorant. “To my knowledge, there is no definitive data linking deodorant to breast cancer,” Dr. Comen says. Dr. Comen related the persistent fear in part to the understandable desire that patients have to understand the cause of their disease. “Everyone wants to understand why they are put in the situation they are. People often dissect their lifestyles. Deodorant is certainly not something to beat oneself up over.”

Dr. Comen does acknowledge, however, that a breast cancer diagnosis is a valuable time to take stock of one’s health practices and to pursue a healthier lifestyle. She recommends focusing on healthy eating, reducing drinking and smoking, and getting exercise before worrying about hygiene products–these are all lifestyle elements that have been definitively linked to cancer. If deodorant is still causing concern, however, Comen has good news. “If something is worrying them about their deodorant, there’s an easy solution–there are non-aluminum containing deodorants that have more natural ingredients. Sometimes they are more expensive, but that is the solution. We make these decisions all the time when it comes to products and health.” Dr. Comen stresses that this lifestyle change can be gradual and is an easier fix than many other potentially unhealthy practices. “You can’t always move the city you live in. You can’t always walk to work. But this is an easy solution.”

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