ReviewGynecologic oncology2021
Talc, body powder, and ovarian cancer: A summary of the epidemiologic evidence.
Review in Gynecologic oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Talc Use and Risk of Cancer: An Umbrella Review and Overlapped Analysis.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Pooled it
- Oophorectomy-Corrected Ovarian Cancer Incidence, Survival, and Mortality by Subtype, Race, Ethnicity.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Modifiable Lifestyle and Environmental Determinants of Ovarian Cancer Risk: Implications for Primary Prevention.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Exploration of familial genetic test result communication among Black women within an academic safety net hospital.Familial cancer · 2026Article
- Decoding the Link Between Talcum Powder and Ovarian Cancer: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Influence of Talc Substitution with Starches from Different Botanical Origins on Rheological and Absorption Properties of Stiff Zinc Oxide Paste Formulations.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- Intimate Care Products and Incidence of Hormone-Related Cancers: A Quantitative Bias Analysis.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Article
- Global epidemiology of epithelial ovarian cancer.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2024Review
- Reply to the letter to the editor: a response to Tran and Egilman.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Article
- Use of personal care product mixtures and incident hormone-sensitive cancers in the Sister Study: A U.S.-wide prospective cohort.Environment international · 2024Article
- Examining differences in menstrual and intimate care product use by race/ethnicity and education among menstruating individuals.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2023Article
- Systematic review of the association between talc and female reproductive tract cancers.Frontiers in toxicology · 2023Review
- Review
- Etiopathogenesis of ovarian cancer. An inflamm-aging entity?Gynecologic oncology reports · 2022Review
- The association of talc use and ovarian cancer: biased or causal.Gynecologic oncology reports · 2022Article
- Utility of Matrix Metalloproteinases in the Diagnosis, Monitoring and Prognosis of Ovarian Cancer Patients.Cancer management and research · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Many women apply powder to the genital area as a drying agent. Talc, an inert mineral with a high capacity to absorb water, has historically been a major component of body powders. Due to its similarity and co-occurrence with asbestos, the association of body powder/talc use and gynecological cancer risk, specifically ovarian cancer risk, has been a long-standing research question. Retrospective case-control studies have shown associations between genital powder use and ovarian cancer risk, with summary relative risk estimates from meta-analyses and pooled analyses ranging from 1.24 to 1.35 for ever versus never use. In contrast, prospective cohort studies have not shown a statistically significant association until recently, when a pooled analysis of four large cohorts demonstrated a weak, but statistically significant association among women with patent reproductive tracts (hazard ratio 1.13). Taken together, the epidemiological data from case-control studies and cohort studies suggest that there may be a small, positive association between genital powder use and ovarian cancer. The causal factors underlying this association are not clear. Proposed factors include talc, other minerals, such as asbestos or quartz, that are known carcinogens and may contaminate talc products, or other powder ingredients that could cause inflammation of the reproductive tracts. Given the rarity of ovarian cancer in the general population, the small increase in relative risk translates to a very low increase in absolute risk. Further research is needed to understand the underpinnings of the observed association between genital powder use and ovarian cancer risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.