Are Chemicals In Hair Products A Possible Risk Of Breast Cancer In Black Women?

By John F. Heerdink, Jr.

Reportedly, parabens, a class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in hair and personal care products, have been found to promote viability and gene expression of a breast cancer cell line in Black women, as per the data presented at ENDO 2022.

The researchers evaluated the effects of three types of parabens in the HCC1500 breast cancer cell line, typically found in Black women of West African ancestry, and compared with the ones typically found in white women of European ancestry, the MCF-7 cell line.

Lindsey S. Treviño, Ph.D., assistant professor in the division of health equities, department of population sciences at City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues compared the effects of propylparaben, butylparaben, and methylparaben exposure on the MCF-7 cell line and the HCC1500 cell line.

The viability of the HCC1500 cancer cell line was significantly greater when exposed to butylparaben, whereas no effect was observed in the MCF-7 cell line. Methylparaben and propylparaben did not have a significant effect on cell viability.

“The HCC1500 breast cancer cell line may be more sensitive to parabens. We have two lines of evidence for that. Butylparaben increases the cell viability of HCC1500, but not MCF-7, and the increase in the estrogen-regulating gene expression is more robust in the HCC1500 cells treated with butylparaben or propylparaben,” stated Lindsey S. Treviño, Ph.D., assistant professor in the division of health equities, department of population sciences at City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, said in a press conference.

The research was conducted as part of the Bench to Community Initiative, a project in which scientists and community members are coming up with ways to reduce exposure to parabens and other harmful chemicals in personal care products.

Seattle-based biotech firm Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop innovative proprietary medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need in oncology and infectious disease with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19. To learn more please visit the Atossa VP Watchlist Page at this link.

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