What You Need to Know About Talcum Powder and Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance provides information based on medical research and best practices. Research regarding a connection between the use of talcum powder and increased ovarian cancer risk is inconclusive. The verdict of recent trials regarding talcum powder will not change the information that Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance provides to women about talcum powder and ovarian cancer.

One published study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2014, showed that using perineal powder was not associated with a risk of ovarian cancer, compared to never having used it (read the full study in Journal of the National Cancer Institute). Previous studies, however, had suggested that there is a link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer. The most recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2020 found no statistically significant link between power use and ovarian cancer risk.

This commentary, also in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, provides additional insight into why it’s so difficult to accurately assess the relationship between talc use and ovarian cancer.

“In highly publicized cases, we must be careful as a women’s health organization to let science guide our reactions. The fact remains that the science is inconclusive about increased risk of ovarian cancer to women using talcum powder,” said Audra Moran, President and CEO of Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

This story in SELF magazine (January 2019) provides an easy-to-understand review around this topic.