Some
parabens may make Black women more susceptible to developing breast cancer
Black women in the US had
a 39 per cent higher breast cancer mortality rate than white women. In
comparison to other ethnic groups, black women have a higher risk of developing
breast cancer before the age of 40.
Breast cancer risk has
been linked to exposure to parabens, which are chemicals used as preservatives
in hair and personal care products trusted Sources. However, the majority of
these investigations used breast cancer cell lines of European origin.
Few, if any, studies have
looked into how parabens affect breast cancer cell lines of a West African
origin up to this point.
Developing public health
recommendations to lower the incidence of breast cancer among Black women could
be aided by understanding how parabens affect the growth of the disease in
these people.
Researchers recently looked
into how parabens impact the development of Black breast cancer cell lines.
They discovered that whereas parabens accelerated the growth of a breast cancer
cell line from a Black woman, they did not accelerate the growth of a cell line
from a white woman.
According to one of the
study's authors, Dr Lindsey S. Trevio, assistant professor in the Department of
Population Sciences at the City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment
facility in Los Angeles, "the effects we observe on cell growth and
hormone-related gene expression in this study give us a clue that paraben
exposure may promote breast cancer progression."
The work was presented at
the annual conference of the Endocrine Society in Atlanta, Georgia.
European
versus West African cell lines
Two breast cancer cell
lines, one of West African origin and the other with European ancestry, were
treated for the study with methylparaben (MP), propylparaben (PP), or
butylparaben (BP).
To determine whether any
effects were mediated by oestrogen, they also gave the cell lines treated with
an oestrogen receptor antagonist.
In the end, the
scientists discovered that BP boosted cancer cells with West African ancestry
but not those with European ancestry.
Additionally, they
discovered that in both cell lines, BP and PP but not MP boosted the expression
of genes that are controlled by oestrogen, indicating that their actions may be
mediated via oestrogen.
According to the
researchers, these initial studies indicate that parabens encourage
proliferation in both cell lines, maybe having a higher impact on those of West
African ancestry.
Underlying
processes
Dr Xiaoting Zhang,
director of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Breast Cancer
Research Program, who was not involved in the study, responded to MNT when
asked what would account for the different effects of parabens on Black and
white breast cancer cell lines:
It appears that at least
some of these disparate effects of parabens may be caused by genetic or
epigenetic variations in the oestrogen receptor pathway of these two cell
lines, which is a really interesting discovery, according to him.
According to him,
"These could include allelic gene variants in the oestrogen receptor
itself and/or changes in the expression level or activity of other components
of the oestrogen receptor pathway such as transcriptional coactivators,
kinases, short RNAs, etc.
The study's authors
concluded that parabens may have negative impacts on breast cancer cells in
Black women.
Dr Zhang responded to a
question regarding the study's limitations by saying, "Since this study
only used one cell line each of European and West African ancestry, it will be
important to examine more cell lines of each origin to see how prevalent this
phenomenon is and to dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms."
He continued,
"Further research into its impact will be crucial, not just in cultured
breast cancer cells but also in animal models and ultimately in humans.
Dr Trevio responded to a
query about how these discoveries can lower the risk of breast cancer as
follows:
These statistics help the
Bench to Community Initiative achieve its objectives (BCI). To better
understand the sociocultural perspective of hair and identity for Black women,
the types of hair products they use, and how these products may increase their
risk for breast cancer, BCI, which is co-led by Dr Dede Teteh at Chapman
University and myself at the City of Hope, brings together scientists and
community members.
In the end, she said,
"we'll use the knowledge we uncover to design community interventions to
assist Black women in lowering their exposure to parabens and other
endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in their care items."