Some jobs may increase your ovarian cancer risk, study found

Since 2023, a rumor has spread online spread that some jobs carried a higher risk of ovarian cancer.

For example, one post on X said accounting and hairdressing were two of the jobs linked to a higher risk of this type of cancer (archived):

The claim also appeared in 2023 news reports, for example in The Daily Mail and The Sun. In addition to accounting and hairdressing, these articles listed beauticians, sales/retail workers, barbers and construction workers as professions that resulted in a higher risk of ovarian cancer. 

The claim stemmed from an observational study by a team at the University of Montreal published in July 2023 in the peer-reviewed journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 

The article used data from a population-based control study of a cohort of women age 18-79, recruited from 2011 to 2016. This study, known as Prevention of Ovarian cancer in Quebec, sought to identify factors that cause epithelial ovarian cancer, the most common of ovarian cancers. The research group published several different papers based on this cohort study, looking at factors such as body fat, lifetime coffee consumption or vitamin D and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. 

The paper that sparked the rumor examined occupational and environmental exposure and found that, adjusting for other variables, some professions seemed more highly correlated to increased ovarian cancer risk, especially when the woman had done this job for more than a decade. For example, those who had been accountants for more than 10 years saw their cancer risk doubled. Those who were hairdressers, barbers or beauticians saw their cancer risk tripled. Sewers’ and embroiderers’ risk was twice the average risk as well. 

In the case of accountants, researchers hypothesized that a sedentary lifestyle may have been a factor. However, in other cases, they examined exposure to different substances, including cosmetic talc, calcium carbonate (found in chalk, for example), ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, but also synthetic fibers like polyester, or hair and fabric dust. The paper read:

Women working in hairdressing-related occupations are exposed to hundreds of chemicals at high concentrations, including hair dyes, shampoos, conditioners, styling and cosmetic products. In our study, employment in hairdressing-related occupations and exposure to 12 agents prevalent in these occupations were suggestively associated with increased risks of ovarian cancer. Out of the 12 agents, IARC [International Agency for Research on Cancer] has classified one agent as a Group 1 carcinogen (formaldehyde) and three agents as ‘not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans’ (Group 3) (hydrogen peroxide, cosmetic talc, isopropanol).

On the other hand, the paper said nurses presented a lower risk of epithelial ovarian cancer:

Contrary to results from previous studies, we observed a suggested decreased risk of ovarian cancer in nursing-related occupations and did not observe excess ovarian cancer risks in teaching-related occupations or educational and healthcare industries, regardless of employment duration.

Still, the team of scientists called for more research into the occupational and environmental factors that may result in ovarian cancer. 

In a commentary to this study, two scientists who did not take part in the study — Melissa Friesen and Laura Beane Freeman, both of the National Cancer Institute — said the paper was a reminder “that while the lack of representation of women in occupational cancer studies—and indeed, even potential strategies to address this issue—have been long recognised, there is still a need for improvement in studying women’s occupational risks.”

Many refer to ovarian cancer as a “silent killer” because early symptoms are nonexistent or vague. Most people receive the diagnosis late, at an advanced stage of the disease, often when it has metastasized. However, early signs can include feeling full quickly, after only a few bites, bloating, abdominal pain and frequent need to urinate or irregular bowel movements, much as in the case of irritable bowel syndrome, according to the Siteman Cancer Center in Missouri, which recommends consulting a doctor if new symptoms last for three weeks or longer.