Cancer link with wearing bras.

[brenda]

It is not just wired bras that have been linked with breast cancer - it is all bras.

http://www.brafree.org/

Does wearing constrictive bras for long periods of time daily contribute to breast cancer?

It does, according to at least 5 research studies and numerous healthcare providers, including oncologists and MD’s. Even some lingerie manufacturers have developed new bra designs hoping to minimize lymphatic constriction and thereby help prevent breast cancer, citing the bra-cancer theory for their patents.

But it doesn’t, according to the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, fund raising giants of the cancer detection and treatment world, which consider the link absurd and unworthy of serious consideration, and unquestionably assume that research showing a link must have some other explanation besides bras.

The link shows studies that show the link:

STUDIES THAT SUPPORT THE BRA/CANCER LINK:

1. 1991 Harvard study (CC Hsieh, D Trichopoulos (1991). Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk. European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology 27(2):131-135.). This study found that, "Premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users..."
2. 1991-93 U.S. Bra and Breast Cancer Study by Singer and Grismaijer, published in Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery/Penguin Putnam, 1995; ISCD Press, 2005). Found that bra-free women have about the same incidence of breast cancer as men. 24/7 bra wearing increases incidence over 100 times that of a bra-free woman.
3. Singer and Grismaijer did a follow-up study in Fiji, published in Get It Off! (ISCD Press, 2000). Found 24 case histories of breast cancer in a culture where half the women are bra-free. The women getting breast cancer were all wearing bras. Given women with the same genetics and diet and living in the same village, the ones getting breast disease were the ones wearing bras for work.
4. A 2009 Chinese study (Zhang AQ, Xia JH, Wang Q, Li WP, Xu J, Chen ZY, Yang JM (2009). [Risk factors of breast cancer in women in Guangdong and the countermeasures]. In Chinese. Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao. 2009 Jul;29(7):1451-3.) found that NOT sleeping in a bra was protective against breast cancer, lowering the risk 60%.
5. 2011 a study was published, in Spanish, confirming that bras are causing breast disease and cancer. http://www.portalesmedicos.com/publ...ientes-que-acuden-a-la-consulta-de-mastologia - It found that underwired and push-up bras are the most harmful, but any bra that leaves red marks or indentations may cause disease.

Studies that refute the link - NONE.

If you want the truth of anything, follow the money. Who gets to gain from cancer? I only wear them when I am going somewhere - not shopping. I am not willing to take any risks with my already fragile health condition.

 

[MeSci]

It is not just wired bras that have been linked with breast cancer - it is all bras.

http://www.brafree.org/



The link shows studies that show the link:

STUDIES THAT SUPPORT THE BRA/CANCER LINK:

1. 1991 Harvard study (CC Hsieh, D Trichopoulos (1991). Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk. European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology 27(2):131-135.). This study found that, "Premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users..."
2. 1991-93 U.S. Bra and Breast Cancer Study by Singer and Grismaijer, published in Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (Avery/Penguin Putnam, 1995; ISCD Press, 2005). Found that bra-free women have about the same incidence of breast cancer as men. 24/7 bra wearing increases incidence over 100 times that of a bra-free woman.
3. Singer and Grismaijer did a follow-up study in Fiji, published in Get It Off! (ISCD Press, 2000). Found 24 case histories of breast cancer in a culture where half the women are bra-free. The women getting breast cancer were all wearing bras. Given women with the same genetics and diet and living in the same village, the ones getting breast disease were the ones wearing bras for work.
4. A 2009 Chinese study (Zhang AQ, Xia JH, Wang Q, Li WP, Xu J, Chen ZY, Yang JM (2009). [Risk factors of breast cancer in women in Guangdong and the countermeasures]. In Chinese. Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao. 2009 Jul;29(7):1451-3.) found that NOT sleeping in a bra was protective against breast cancer, lowering the risk 60%.
5. 2011 a study was published, in Spanish, confirming that bras are causing breast disease and cancer. http://www.portalesmedicos.com/publ...ientes-que-acuden-a-la-consulta-de-mastologia - It found that underwired and push-up bras are the most harmful, but any bra that leaves red marks or indentations may cause disease.

Studies that refute the link - NONE.

If you want the truth of anything, follow the money. Who gets to gain from cancer? I only wear them when I am going somewhere - not shopping. I am not willing to take any risks with my already fragile health condition.

I found the abstract of the first study here. It says (my bolding):

Premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users (P about 0.09), possibly because they are thinner and likely to have smaller breasts. Among bra users, larger cup size was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (P about 0.026), although the association was found only among postmenopausal women and was accounted for, in part, by obesity. These data suggest that bra cup size (and conceivably mammary gland size) may be a risk factor for breast cancer.

The second and third links don't seem to be scientific studies.

The fourth citation has an abstract here, which says:

In premenopausal women, prophylactic, family history of breast cancer, bad mood, bad life incidence and work load were the risk factors, and breast hyperplasia history, breast tissue examination history, regular exercise and sleeping without bra were the protective factors. In postmenopausal women, family history of breast cancer was the risk factor, and breast hyperplasia history and mood adjustment were the protective factors.
The risk and protective factors of breast cancer differ between premenopausal and postmenopausal women, which highlights the importance of using different risk models to screen the high-risk populations.

but sleeping in a bra is likely to be associated with larger breast size.

The fifth link has Spanish text and a funny English translation, and does say:

Results: 49% of the patients comprised between 33-52 years; 76% of which use half cup, full cup 62%, had breast conditions; 73% of the bra using whales showed abnormalities; 75% of the people using it more than 12 hours presented mammary lesions.

Conclusion: The incorrect selection of bra given by the use of whales, fillers and accessories that enhance the breast and combined with the prolonged use of it results in the alteration of the female breast health.

But they concede that it was a "descriptive, non-experimental, transactional (?) study." Admittedly, it would be hard, and probably unethical, to do an experimental study, but a prospective one would be more informative.

 

[Undisclosed]

It's a myth.

Wearing a bra does not increase the risk of breast cancer, according to new research.

A study of around 1,500 post-menopausal women found those who used the garment were no more likely to develop the disease than their braless counterparts.

For more than 20 years the debate has raged, after scientists pointed out breast cancer was unknown for thousands of years until women began wearing bras.

The theory suggests a constricting bra, especially one with underwire, can block the drainage of waste products through the lymphatic glands inhibit the disposal of toxins, leading to more exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...-underwired-wear-year-long.html#ixzz3PrXAPcFz

Bras and Breast Cancer: A Theory that Lacks Support -- https://acspressroom.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/bras-and-breast-cancer-a-theory-that-lacks-support/

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/one-more-time-no-wearing-a-bra-does-not-cause-breast-cancer/

 

[brenda]

Risk of breast cancer in women with palpable breast cysts: a prospective study. Edinburgh Breast Group. Dixon JM, McDonald C, Elton RA, Miller WR Edinburgh Breast Unit, Western General Hospital, UK.

FINDINGS: 65 cancers developed during follow-up. The overall standardised incidence rate of breast cancer in patients with palpable cysts was 2.81 (95% CI 2.17-3.59). The relative incidence rate was increased for all cyst types. The standardised incidence rate of developing breast cancer among women younger than 45 years was highest at 5.94 (2.97-10.63), with a significant trend for decreasing relative incidence rate with age (p<0.05). Women older than 54 years had a standardised incidence rate of 1.73 (0.86-3.10). The standardised incidence rate of breast cancer was highest in the first year after aspiration (7.02 [3.73-12.00]) but the risk was still raised after 5 years (2.68 [1.84-3.76]).

INTERPRETATION: Women with breast cysts are at an increased risk of breast cancer, especially at younger ages. The type of cyst did not alter the associated relative incidence rate of breast-cancer development.

http://www.brafree.org/research.html

It is entriely logical to me that any resriction will slow down lympatic drainage from the breast area. It makes no sense to claim that it doesn't.

 

[Undisclosed]

If you want the truth of anything, follow the money. Who gets to gain from cancer? I only wear them when I am going somewhere - not shopping. I am not willing to take any risks with my already fragile health condition.

How do bra manufacturers gain from women getting cancer?

Some more links that mention the myth:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/the-myth-of-bras-and-breast-cancer/?_r=0

http://breastcancer.about.com/od/riskfactorsindetail/a/bras-breast-cancer.htm

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/04/16/your_bra_is_not.html

https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/your-bra-is-not-killing-you/

http://skepchick.org/2012/03/ask-surly-amy-underwire-bras-and-cancer/

http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/bras-and-breast-cancer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dressed_to_Kill_(book)#Criticisms

 

[Undisclosed]

Risk of breast cancer in women with palpable breast cysts: a prospective study. Edinburgh Breast Group. Dixon JM, McDonald C, Elton RA, Miller WR Edinburgh Breast Unit, Western General Hospital, UK.



http://www.brafree.org/research.html

It is entriely logical to me that any resriction will slow down lympatic drainage from the breast area. It makes no sense to claim that it doesn't.

It is illogical to believe something that has been shown to be nonsense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dressed_to_Kill_(book)#Criticisms

Medical and scientific bodies which have examined the book's claims have generally dismissed them on the basis of poor methodology, lack of supporting evidence, and Singer and Grismaijer's failure to consider alternate explanations besides bra use for their findings.

One specific critique of the their book by Martha Molete of the Cancer Association of South Africa argues that numerous aspects of the book's claims are scientifically unsubstantiated or unproven, citing:[15]

• Lack of controlled epidemiological data correlating bra-wearing with the risk for breast cancer
• Lack of proof that the pressure exerted by a bra reduces the flow of lymph
• Lack of proof that lymph contains carcinogens
• Lack of proof that there are carcinogens in the human body that can induce breast cancer
• Existence of published data correlating obesity with post-menopausal breast cancer

None of the authors' surveys have attempted to account for any of the well-known epidemiological risk factors for breast cancer, such as number of full-term pregnancies, age at first pregnancy, obesity, Western pattern diet, or use of medications such as hormone replacement therapy. Per Molete, "the authors' statistical treatment of their obtained data appears to be flawed. They do not include the data or a detailed description of the statistical treatment of the data. The two groups, i.e. those wearing bras and those that did not, were not controlled for many other factors influencing the risk of breast cancer."[15] In addition, study participants knew the hypothesis before taking the survey.[16]

The authors' proposal that bras block the lymphatic system which lead to accumulated toxins and cancer was also debunked by an unrelated study. The National Institutes of Health examined cancer rates among women who had their underarm lymph nodes removed as part of melanoma treatment: "The surgery, which is known to block lymph drainage from breast tissue, did not detectably increase breast cancer rates, the study found, meaning that it is extremely unlikely that wearing a bra, which affects lymph flow minimally if at all, would do so."[16]

No supporting research

A survey of the MEDLINE/PubMed database revealed no published scientific studies supporting a link between bra wearing and breast cancer risk.[15] Furthermore, no scientific publications were found which were authored by Singer or Grismaijer.[15]

Scientific counterhypothesis

The Molete article also discusses the one scientific study that examined the relationship between breast cancer and bra use. This study, among 3,918 cases and 11,712 controls from 7 centers in the United States, found that premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users (P about 0.09). The authors offer the hypothesis that women who do not wear bras are thinner and likely to have smaller breasts. The same study found that among postmenopausal women only bra users with larger breasts had an increased risk of breast cancer (P about 0.026). The study suggests bra cup size is a proxy for greater weight and obesity which are known risk factors for breast cancer, and that the apparent risk associated with bra use is more likely a reflection of known risk factors for breast cancer, such as obesity.[15][17]

 

[brenda]

It's got nothing to do with the manufactureers. The bad information is coming from the cancer industry. Your links are unimpressive. They say that there has been one study which is a downright lie.

 

[Hip]

I found the research linking dog ownership to breast cancer very interesting.

A study found that breast cancer patients were twice as likely to own a dog, compared to healthy controls. This suggests that there is some factor connected to dogs that promotes breast cancer.

One such possible factor is the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), a retrovirus which has been shown capable of infecting human cells, and which triggers breast cancer in mice (although the tumors caused by MMTV in mice are benign and do not usually metastasize).

Dogs may provide a route of transmission for MMTV, passing this virus to humans.

 

[Undisclosed]

It's got nothing to do with the manufactureers. The bad information is coming from the cancer industry. Your links are unimpressive. They say that there has been one study which is a downright lie.

@brenda -- if you want to post unsubstantiated information on a website for ME -- go right ahead. But when you post obviously biased information with absolutely no basis in reality, the information should be countered with information that is based in reality. How do you know the links I posted are unimpressive since I just posted them and you couldn't possible have read any of them in that amount of time.

What cancer industry? It's ridiculous for you to even say that. I don't suppose you can see beyond your own biases because you have consistently posted claims of things causing cancer and when members try to give you information that might counter your beliefs, you don't read the information and keep saying the same things over.

Weighing the information, it just doesn't make sense that a wire bra could even cut down lymph flow to any significant degree. And if it did, where is the link to cancer anyways.

When it comes to cancer, there are known risks.

Following the money. Are these people making spurious claims in a book not in it for the money? Puleez. Bras are not and never will be a cause of cancer.

 

[Undisclosed]

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/27/1055-9965.EPI-14-0414.abstract

Bra Wearing Not Associated with Breast Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Case–Control Study

1. Lu Chen*,
2. Kathleen E. Malone, and
3. Christopher I. Li

+Author Affiliations

1. ↵*Corresponding Author:
   Lu Chen, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Mail Stop M4-C308, Seattle, WA 98109-1024. Phone: 206-667-5028; Fax: 206-667-5948; E-mail: luchen78@uw.edu

Abstract
Despite the widespread use of bras among U.S. women and concerns in the lay media that bra wearing may increase breast cancer risk, there is a scarcity of credible scientific studies addressing this issue. The goal of the study was to evaluate the relationship between various bra-wearing habits and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women. We conducted a population-based case–control study of breast cancer in the Seattle–Puget Sound metropolitan area that compared 454 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) cases and 590 invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2004 with 469 control women between 55 to 74 years of age. Information on bra-wearing habits and other breast cancer risk factors was collected from study participants through in-person interviews. Multivariate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their associated 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using polytomous logistic regression. No aspect of bra wearing, including bra cup size, recency, average number of hours/day worn, wearing a bra with an underwire, or age first began regularly wearing a bra, was associated with risks of either IDC or ILC. Our results did not support an association between bra wearing and increased breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 1–5. ©2014 AACR.

 

[cigana]

I found the research linking dog ownership to breast cancer very interesting.

Breast cancer patients were twice as likely to own a dog, compared to healthy controls. This suggests that there is some factor connected to dogs that promotes breast cancer.

One such possible factor is the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), a retrovirus which has been shown capable of infecting human cells, and which triggers breast cancer in mice (although the tumors caused by MMTV in mice are benign and do not usually metastasize).

Dogs may provide a route of transmission for MMTV, passing this virus to humans.

I wonder if there is a similar link with pets in MECFS...

 

[minkeygirl]

My mother was never near a dog in her life and she got breast cancer. I'm sure it had more to do with her eastern european genes among other things.

@Kina , thanks for the research disproving this. What a crock.

 

[Hip]

My mother was never near a dog in her life and she got breast cancer.

That does not really mean much statistically as a single N = 1 bit of data. Also, note that nobody is suggesting that MMTV might be the only cause of breast cancer.


In 1971 a beta-retrovirus similar to MMTV was found in the milk from 5% of American women with no familial history of breast cancer, but 60% of American women with familial breast cancer.


There is also a close relative to MMTV involved, which is human mammary tumor virus (HMTV). Genetically HMTV is very similar to MMTV.

HMTV is found in 40% of the breast cancers studied in American women, but is not detectable in non-tumor mammary tissue from the same breast that contained the tumor.

Source: Human Mammary Tumor Virus (HMTV) sequences in human milk

 

[ahmo]

I notice that the author of the One More Time...No, Wearing a Bra Does not .... Adds to his list of things that are debunked, detox. Now I know that if I'd not spent as much time engaged in detox protocols during the past year, there's no way I'd be reading and responding to this thread. And he seems to challenge the idea of toxins in the breast. I saw a doco last year about just how many toxins do accumulate in breast tissue. It's now on a pay-to-view mode, a nursing mum tested her breast milk. Pretty scary!!

The Secret Life of Breasts [https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-...r_detailpage&x-yt-ts=1421914688&v=Ty31QHqPfkY
Gradually we are beginning to understand the wondrous biochemistry and evolution of the breast. But now some scientists believe breasts may be a hidden toxic waste ground, living time-bombs that might endanger not only their owners -- but also those who suckle at them. Putting actual breast tissue - and breast milk - to the test we investigate if these wonderful life-giving organs are under threat from the modern world, and, if so, what we can do to save them.

The claim was that there are all sorts of “toxins” (of course) that cause cancer and that the lymph vessels drain those “toxins” away from the breast. Thus, if you believe Singer and Grismaijer, these “toxins” are concentrated in the breast by the constriction that bras produce and result in breast cancer. This concept, that “toxins” somehow accumulate if lymphatic drainage is somehow blocked is one of the key concepts behind the quackery that is “detoxification,” used by quacks of many stripes. Such “detoxification” often consists of diets that result in purging, coffee enemas, chelation therapy to “remove heavy metals,” and many other treatments without a solid basis in science. However, “manual lymphatic drainage” is yet another form of quackery, at least when it’s claimed to “detoxify.”

 

[perchance dreamer]

I certainly hope any further studies include bras using whales!

 

[Gingergrrl]

Are the posts linking dog ownership to breast cancer a joke or serious?

 

[Mij]

"They" were also linking breast cancer to aluminum in antiperspirants at one time.

 

[Hip]

Are the posts linking dog ownership to breast cancer a joke or serious?

It's serious, although the 2006 study was small (69 patients in Bavaria). They found that dog, but not cat, ownership was linked to breast cancer. I have not come across any replication studies, though, or anyone examining this further, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

There is also some criticism here about the study's methodology:

they asked a small number of patients with breast cancer about close contact with dogs, but used public statistics on pet ownership for the controls. Using different methods of obtaining information in cases and controls is a notorious way to come up with spurious results.

 

[Hip]

"They" were also linking breast cancer to aluminum in antiperspirants at one time.

The possibility that aluminum from antiperspirants might be a factor in breast cancer is still being investigated, as is the connection between breast cancer and parabens, which is another common ingredient of antiperspirants.

 

[IreneF]

It's serious, although the 2006 study was small (69 patients in Bavaria). They found that dog, but not cat, ownership was linked to breast cancer. I have not come across any replication studies, though, or anyone examining this further, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

There is also some criticism here about the study's methodology:

It's because cat owners are slatterns who don't wear bras or antiperspirant.