Scientists in the UK and Switzerland  Link Breast Cancer to Antiperspirants Containing Aluminum Salts

Antiperspirants with aluminum salts is now known to be linked to breast cancer. International scientists now confirm the link between Antiperspirants with aluminum salts and breast cancer. Meet the scientists at Cancer Corner USA and read their research finding. Meet Professor Christopher Exley from the UK, meet Professor Philippa Darbre from the UK and Doctor Stefano Mandriota from Switzerland. All three scientists conclude that aluminum in antiperspirants is a cause of breast cancer. We present 20 years of research, including the case control study on the use of antiperspirants with aluminum in 2017 by Dr. Caroline Linhart of Austria.

We will begin with the research by:

2001 – Professor Philippa Darbre

Underarm cosmetics are a cause of breast cancer.

The Hypothesis: I propose a novel hypothesis that chemical constituents of antiperspirant/deodorant cosmetics applied to the underarm area are a cause of breast cancer.

2004 – Doctor Gloria Yiu, MD, Ph.D

Antiperspirant Induced DNA Damage in Canine Cells by Comet Assay

Millions of people around the world use antiperspirants to decrease or eliminate body odors. Most antiperspirants contain aluminum zirconium or another form of aluminum as its active ingredient. The present investigation applied Comet assay to detect if Secret Platinum for women, Old Spice for men, or Crystal Natural produced DNA damage in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells (MDCKII). This study has shown that antiperspirants cause DNA damage on a single-cell level. Additionally, our data showed us that in general, Secret Platinum for women and Old Spice for men produced equivalent damage. Crystal Natural, marketed as being safer or less damaging, induced the most extensive damage of all three antiperspirants tested.

2005 – Professor Philippa Darbre

Aluminium, antiperspirants and breast cancer

“Results reported here demonstrate that aluminium in the form of aluminium chloride or aluminium chlorhydrate can interfere with the function of oestrogen receptors of MCF7 human breast cancer cells…”

2007 – Professor Christopher Exley

Aluminium in human Breast Tissue

We have used graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) to measure the aluminium content in breast biopsies obtained following mastectomies. The aluminium content of breast tissue and breast tissue fat were in the range 4-437 nmol/g dry wt. and 3-192 nmol/g oil, respectively. The aluminium content of breast tissue in the outer regions (axilla and lateral) was significantly higher (P=0.033) than the inner regions (middle and medial) of the breast.

2011 – Ferdinando Mannello-G.Tonti-V.Medda-P.Simone-P.D. Darbre

Analysis of aluminum content and iron homeostasis in nipple aspirate fluids from healthy women and breast cancer affected patients

The genotoxic profile of aluminium, together with its reported oestrogenic properties and possible effects on biomolecular alterations to the breast microenvironment, should be a reason for future research into the potential involvement of aluminium in the development and progression of human breast cancer, opening a new strategy for an innovative approach to breast cancer prevention (Darbre, 2010).

2013 – Professors Philippa Darbre – Ferdinando Mannello – Christopher Exley

Aluminum and Breast Cancer

Highlights:

• Evidence is reviewed linking aluminum (Al) with the aetiology of breast cancer

• Al has been measured in human breast tissue

• Al induces suspension growth & DNA strand breaks in  nontransformed breast cells

• Al increases migration/invasion of human breast cancer cells

• Biomarkers of adverse impact of Al on the breast microenvironment are described.

2013 – P.D. Darbre – Ayse Bakir –Elzira Iskakova

Effect of aluminum on migratory and invasive properties  of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in culture

This paper demonstrates for the first time that exposure to aluminium can also increase migratory and invasive properties of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Long-term (32 weeks) but not short-term (1 week) exposure of MCF-7 cells to 10−4 M aluminium chloride or 10−4 M aluminium chlorohydrate increased motility of the cells as measured by live cell imaging (cumulative length moved by individual cells)

2015 –  A.Farasani, P.D. Darbre

Effects of aluminum chloride and aluminum cholorhydrate on DNA repair…

Use of underarm aluminium (Al)-based antiperspirant salts may be a contributory factor in breast cancer development. At the 10th Keele meeting, Al was reported to cause anchorage-independent growth and double strand DNA breaks in MCF10A immortalised non-transformed human breast epithelial cells. We now report that exposure of MCF10A cells to Al chloride or Al chlorohydrate also compromised DNA repair systems.

2017 – Professor Caroline Linhart Ph.D, Medical University of Innsbruck Austria A Case Control Study

“Use of Underarm Cosmetics Products in Relation to Risk Breast Cancer- A Case Control Study”

A total of 460 women participated in this study, of these 210 were breast cancer cases and 250 were healthy controls. The findings of this age-matched hospital based case-control study suggest an association between UCP use, aluminum concentration in breast tissue and breast cancer. We found a significant difference between cases and controls in the pre-specified primary endpoint.  VIDEO

2017 – Doctor Stefano Mandriota Comment on Linhart Study

A Case Control Study Add a new piece to the Aluminum/Breast Cancer Puzzle

In this issue of EBioMedicine, a new retrospective study (Linhart et al., 2017) analyzing the data from 209 BC cases and 209 healthy controls, revealed an association between self-reported UCP use and BC risk. The association was statistically significant for patients who reported using UCP more than once a day when they were under the age of 30. Importantly, this study also measured the aluminium content of a large subsample of BC cases and controls, and found that self-reported UCP use correlates with higher aluminium content in the breast. It is worth highlighting that the concentrations of aluminium measured in BC cases are in the range of those that transform mammary epithelial cells in vitro (Sappino et al., 2012, Mandriota et al., 2016).  BC=breast cancer UCP=Underarm cosmetic product.

2017 –  Doctor Stefano Mandriota Comment

Science Breaker

In our experiments, we exposed cultures of mammary epithelial cells for several weeks to concentrations of aluminium in the range of those measured in the human mammary gland. Remarkably, those cells became “transformed”. That is, they exhibit functional changes typical of the process where normal cells become cancerous. Such changes include the accumulation of mutations in their DNA, and the capacity to overcome the proliferations’ limits of normal cells. Furthermore, these aluminium-exposed cells, when injected into the flank of mouse strains validated for research in oncology, formed tumors and metastases, whereas controls cells (cells which have not been treated with aluminium) did not.

2017 –  Professor Christopher Exley Comment on Linhart Study

Hippocratic Post

In the largest study of its kind, the team based at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, conducted an age-matched case-controlled study, involving 209 female breast cancer patients and 209 healthy controls, to investigate breast cancer and the self-reported use of underarm cosmetic products.

Aluminium has been a suspected human carcinogen for more than 100 years. The findings in this new paper confirm that aluminium can now be added to the list of carcinogens which are known to contribute towards the aetiology of breast cancer.

2019 – Professor Philippa Darbre University of Reading Central Archive

Breast Cysts and Aluminum – Based Antiperspirant Salts

On the basis that aluminium-based antiperspirant salts are designed to block apocrine sweat ducts of the axilla, and that breast cysts result from blocked breast ducts in the adjacent region of the body, it has been proposed that breast cysts may arise from antiperspirant use if sufficient aluminium is absorbed into breast tissues over long-term usage. This review collates evidence that aluminium can be absorbed from dermal application of antiperspirant salts and describes studies measuring levels of aluminium in breast tissues, including in breast cyst fluids. It is notable that breast cysts, as for breast cancers, start most frequently in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, which is the region closest to the site of underarm antiperspirant application. Mechanistic evidence is reviewed for a link between aluminium levels in breast tissue, cyst formation and development of breast cancer. If excessive use of antiperspirant is a cause of breast cysts, then reduction or cessation of use could provide a preventative or even treatment strategy. Furthermore, if cyst formation from antiperspirant use is an indicator of increased risk for breast cancer, then reduction in use of antiperspirant could also provide a strategy for reducing breast cancer risk. VIDEO

2020 –  Professor Christopher Exley Comment in his new book

“Imagine You Are an Aluminum Atom”

…”it was unequivocally demonstrated that the use of antiperspirants was significantly associated with breast cancer…Aluminum should now be considered as the major environmental factor contributing to breast cancer and its role in the disease is significantly increased through the regular application of aluminum-based antiperspirants.”

2020 – Doctor Stefano Mandriota

Genomic Instability is an Early Event in Aluminum-Induced Tumorigenesis

Our results show, for the first time, that aluminium, similar to well known carcinogens—including arsenic or cadmium [21]—at concentrations in the range of those measured in the human mammary gland and that transform mammary epithelial cells in vitro, promotes genomic instability—in the form of chromosomal rearrangements—in mammary epithelial cells. More importantly, we show that chromosomal abnormalities likely to lead to those observed in transformed cells by MFISH—i.e., chromatide breaks—are observed after a 24 h exposure to aluminium. The latter result suggests that the accumulation of chromosomal rearrangements in AlCl₃-transformed cells is not simply a secondary effect of cellular transformation, but the direct consequence of a clastogenic activity of aluminium in this cell type. Whereas other components might play a role in AlCl₃-induced cellular transformation as a whole process, we propose that early induced chromosomal rearrangements might be one of the initiating effects by which aluminium transforms mammary epithelial cells. VIDEO