Health Check: New research questions link between use of talcum powder and cancer

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was released after thousands of women have filed or have won judgement claiming talcum powder caused their ovarian cancer.

"I think in our culture when you're telling someone they've developed cancer, they need--that's a human need--to understand why,” said Dr. Don Dizon, the director for women's cancers at the Lifespan Cancer Institute.

He said the link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer goes back for decades.

"The issue arose because talc, particularly older forms, there was this contamination with asbestos," he said. "So the concern was talc that's commercially available may have this carcinogenic material in it as well and may actually predispose to cancer."

Dizon said earlier studies focused on asking women after they were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, if they used talc.

"The biggest concern about all that, right, is if I asked you after the fact, 'Did you ever use talc?' People would be more likely to remember, 'well I did',” said Dizon.

Something he called recall bias.

This new research used a different method.

"What they did is, instead of going to women and say, 'You got ovarian cancer, did you ever use this product?' they looked at four national studies where they enrolled women at time zero and then followed them forward at at time zero they asked them questions before they ever developed anything," said Dizon.

And when they adjusted for things such as age, race, ethnicity and menopause--there was no statistically significant link between the use of talc and ovarian cancer.

"I think it's a more conclusive way to answer a question that will never be answered conclusively," said Dizon.

But there are known risks, he said, such as age and infertility.

"One of the biggest ones that we know is of family history,” said Dizon.

The American Cancer Society is weighing in on this, suggesting since there is no conclusive evidence either way, people who are concerned may want to avoid or limit the use of talcum powder until more research is done.