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A study has shown that antiperspirants used to reduce armpit ‘underarm’ or sweating do not increase the risk of breast cancer. This study is meaningful in that it overturned existing beliefs and updated the results of a previous study that reached the same conclusion to the latest version.
According to the National Cancer Center on the 23rd, Myung Seung-kwon, a professor in the Department of Cancer AI and Digital Health at the International Graduate University of Oncology, published a paper titled ‘Antiperspirant use and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis of case-control studies’ in ‘Cancer Investigation’, an international academic journal of oncology SCIE. Recently posted.
This study is the result of a meta-analysis of seven case-control studies published in international academic journals from 2002 to 2021. Meta-analysis is a research technique that selects, analyzes, and summarizes multiple studies conducted on a specific topic.
Sweat is an odorless liquid composed of water, electrolytes, and proteins, but bacteria living in the armpits produce volatile, foul-smelling compounds, causing an odor called ‘arm odor.’ Some have pointed out that aluminum contained in armpit sweat suppressants may cause breast cancer by activating genotoxicity (a property that causes disruption to the genes of organisms) and estrogen.
As a result of the study, Professor Myung concluded that the aluminum content of antiperspirants was low and was not sufficient to cause genotoxicity. He said, “Controversy has been raised that breast cancer often occurs in the upper and outer parts of the breast, close to the armpits where antiperspirants are used, but the results of this study confirmed that there was no basis for this.” He added, “The amount of aluminum absorbed into the skin is extremely small, preventing genotoxicity.” “It is not thought to be serious enough to cause breast cancer.”
He continued, “However, case-control studies have limitations in the research design themselves, so it is necessary to conduct a prospective cohort study, that is, collect information from a large group of people and then conduct a comparative study decades later to confirm the results of this study.” Limitations explained.
Previously, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) stated that there was no scientific evidence that antiperspirants increase the risk of breast cancer, based on two studies published in 2002 and 2006 included in this meta-analysis. Since there have been no follow-up studies published since then, this study is meaningful in that it synthesizes the latest research results.
The first author of this study is Vietnamese national Thao Thi Kim Trinh, a master’s graduate from the Department of Cancer Management at the National Cancer Center’s International Graduate School of Cancer. .
Reporter Park Byeong-tak [email protected]
