Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study

Kimberly A Bertrand¹, Lauren Delp², Patricia F Coogan², Yvette C Cozier³, Yolanda M Lenzy⁴, Lynn Rosenberg², Julie R Palmer⁵

Affiliations

¹ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: kab15@bu.edu.
² Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Lenzy Dermatology and Hair Loss Center, Chicopee, MA, USA; University of Connecticut Health Dermatology, Farmington, CT, USA.
⁵ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.

PMID: 37821068
PMCID: PMC10842360
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117228

Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study

Kimberly A Bertrand et al. Environ Res. 2023.

. 2023 Dec 15;239(Pt 1):117228.

doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117228. Epub 2023 Oct 10.

Authors

Kimberly A Bertrand¹, Lauren Delp², Patricia F Coogan², Yvette C Cozier³, Yolanda M Lenzy⁴, Lynn Rosenberg², Julie R Palmer⁵

Affiliations

¹ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: kab15@bu.edu.
² Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Lenzy Dermatology and Hair Loss Center, Chicopee, MA, USA; University of Connecticut Health Dermatology, Farmington, CT, USA.
⁵ Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.

PMID: 37821068
PMCID: PMC10842360
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117228

Abstract

Background: Chemical hair relaxers, use of which is highly prevalent among Black women in the US, have been inconsistently linked to risk of estrogen-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer, and other reproductive health conditions. Whether hair relaxer use increases risk of uterine cancer is unknown.

Methods: In the Black Women's Health Study, 44,798 women with an intact uterus who self-identified as Black were followed from 1997, when chemical hair relaxer use was queried, until 2019. Over follow-up, 347 incident uterine cancers were diagnosed. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusted for age and other potential confounders, to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations of hair relaxer use with risk of uterine cancer.

Results: Compared to women who never used hair relaxers or used them infrequently (<4 years and ≤1-2 times/year), the HR for uterine cancer associated with heavy use (≥15 years and at least 5 times/year) was 1.18 (95% CI: 0.81, 1.71). However, among postmenopausal women, compared to never/light use, the HR for moderate use was 1.60 (95% CI: 1.01, 2.53), the HR for heavy use was 1.64 (1.01, 2.64), and the HR for ≥20 years of use regardless of frequency was 1.71 (1.08, 2.72). Results among premenopausal women were null.

Conclusions: In this large cohort of Black women, long-term use of chemical hair relaxers was associated with increased risk of uterine cancer among postmenopausal women, but not among premenopausal women. These findings suggest that hair relaxer use may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for uterine cancer.

Keywords: Endometrial cancer; Hair relaxers; Hair straighteners; Racial disparities; Risk; Uterine cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

1. McDonald JA, Llanos AAM, Morton T, Zota AR. The Environmental Injustice of Beauty Products: Toward Clean and Equitable Beauty. Am J Public Health. Jan 2022;112(1):50–53. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2021.306606 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Coogan PF, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Cozier YC, Lenzy YM, Bertrand KA. Hair product use and breast cancer incidence in the Black Women’s Health Study. Carcinogenesis. Jul 16 2021;42(7):924–930. doi:10.1093/carcin/bgab041 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Wise LA, Wang TR, Ncube CN, et al. Use of chemical hair straighteners and fecundability in a North American preconception cohort. Am J Epidemiol. Mar 31 2023;doi:10.1093/aje/kwad079 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Iwegbue CMA, Emakunu OS, Obi G, Nwajei GE, Martincigh BS. Evaluation of human exposure to metals from some commonly used hair care products in Nigeria. Toxicol Rep. 2016;3:796–803. doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2016.10.001 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Johnson PI, Favela K, Jarin J, et al. Chemicals of concern in personal care products used by women of color in three communities of California. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. Nov 2022;32(6):864–876. doi:10.1038/s41370-022-00485-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study

Affiliations

Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical