研究发现爽身粉不太可能导致卵巢癌

研究发现爽身粉不太可能导致卵巢癌

In recent years, women have taken talcum powder manufacturers to court over concerns that the use of the product in the genital area could cause ovarian cancer. Now, a new study finds no meaningful association between using talc-based or other powders and ovarian cancer.

近年来，女性把爽身粉制造商告上法庭，因为她们担心在生殖器官使用爽身粉可能会导致卵巢癌。现在，一项新的研究发现，使用爽身粉或其他粉与卵巢癌之间没有明显的联系。

Researchers from NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute conducted the largest study to date of genital powder use and ovarian cancer. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA, used data from 252.745 women who answered questions about whether they used powder on their genitals. This was a pooled analysis of four large studies gathering data about the frequency and length of time women used the powder.

美国国立卫生研究院(NIH)国家环境卫生科学研究所和美国国家癌症研究所的研究人员进行了迄今为止规模最大的生殖粉使用和卵巢癌研究。周二发表在《美国医学会杂志》(JAMA)上的这项研究，使用了来自252.745名女性的数据，她们回答了有关是否在生殖器上使用爽身粉的问题。这是对四项大型研究的汇总分析，收集了关于女性使用这种爽身粉的频率和时间的数据。

According to epidemiologist Katie O'Brien who headed the study, women report applying the powder either directly on their genital area or on sanitary napkins, tampons, underwear or diaphragms. O'Brien doesn't know exactly which type of powder women used.

领导这项研究的流行病学家凯蒂·奥布莱恩表示，女性报告称，她们会直接将这种粉末涂在生殖器区域，或者卫生巾、卫生棉条、内衣或子宫帽上。奥布莱恩不知道女人们到底用的是哪种粉末。

The research finds that women who had ever used powder had an 8% increased risk of ovarian cancer compared to those who never used it. "That is not a statistically significant increase" says O'Brien. And she adds that this increase needs to be understood in context. Ovarian cancer is very rare and the lifetime risk of getting it is 1.3% so an increase of 8% to that is "small." O'Brien says it represents an estimated 0.09% increase in risk by age 70.

研究发现，与从未使用过爽身粉的女性相比，使用过爽身粉的女性患卵巢癌的风险增加了8%。奥布莱恩说:“从统计上看，这并不是一个显著的增长。”她补充说，这种增长需要在具体情况下加以理解。卵巢癌非常罕见，终生患病风险为1.3%，所以8%的增长是“很小的”。奥布莱恩说，据估计，到70岁时，患病风险会增加0.09%。

But among the subset of women who had their uterus and fallopian tubes intact, their increased risk of ovarian cancer from using powder in their genital area was 13% — which is an estimated 0.15% increase in risk by age 70 and is still considered a very small increase.

但是，在子宫和输卵管完好的女性中，在生殖部位使用爽身粉增加了13%患卵巢癌的风险，到70岁时，这一风险估计增加了0.15%，但仍然被认为是很小的增加。

Unlike most other studies of talc and ovarian cancer, which focused on women already diagnosed with cancer, this study was prospective, and asked about powder use before study subjects had developed ovarian cancer. This means the study is free from recall bias, says O'Brien.

不像其他大多数关于爽身粉和卵巢癌的研究，这些研究关注的是已经被诊断为癌症的女性，这项研究是前瞻性的，在研究对象发展为卵巢癌之前询问粉末的使用情况。奥布莱恩说，这意味着这项研究没有回忆偏差。

Rates of powder use have declined over the last 50 years, yet it remains a routine practice for some women, says Dr. Dana Gossett, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. She wrote an editorial accompanying the study but was not involved in the study itself.

加州大学旧金山分校妇产科教授达纳·戈塞特说，过去50年里，爽身粉使用率有所下降，但对一些女性来说，使用爽身粉仍是一种常规做法。她为这项研究写了一篇社论，但没有参与这项研究。

"Women have used powders for genital hygiene for decades to absorb odor and moisture," she says.

她说:“几十年来，女性一直用爽身粉来清洁生殖器，吸收异味和水分。”

Earlier investigations of an association between the use of talc-containing powders for genital hygiene and epithelial ovarian cancer risks have provided inconsistent results, says Gossett and have resulted in an "ongoing controversy." Concerns have been raised about possible contamination of mineral talc with asbestos, a known cancer risk.

戈塞特说，早先对生殖器卫生使用含爽身粉与上皮性卵巢癌风险之间关系的调查提供了不一致的结果，并导致了“持续的争议”。人们担心矿物爽身粉可能会被石棉污染，这是一种已知的致癌风险。

Researchers say it's been hypothesized that the powder could induce an inflammatory response by irritating epithelial ovarian tissue or fallopian tubes directly which, in turn, could set off a cascade of increased oxidative stress levels, DNA damage and cell division, all of which could contribute to carcinogenesis.

研究人员表示，据推测，这种粉末可能会通过直接刺激卵巢上皮组织或输卵管而引发炎症反应，进而可能引发氧化应激水平上升、DNA损伤和细胞分裂的级联反应，所有这些都可能导致癌症的发生。

Gossett says the new study finding "doesn't really support any association [of powder use with ovarian cancer]."

戈塞特说，新的研究发现“并不真正支持(使用爽身粉与卵巢癌之间的)任何联系”。

"No study can ever say definitively what the cause of cancer is, but this study at least shows there's not a substantial increase in ovarian cancer risk," she says.

她说:“没有一项研究能确定癌症的病因，但这项研究至少表明，卵巢癌的风险没有显著增加。”