Bladder cancer risk and personal hair dye use

Abstract

Several cohort and case-control studies have found an increased risk of bladder cancer among hairdressers and barbers who are occupationally exposed to hair dyes. However, the carcinogenic risk associated with personal use of hair dyes remains uncertain since several large case-control and cohort studies did not find an association between personal hair dye use and bladder cancer. To address this question, the authors used data collected on 459 bladder cancer cases and 665 controls who were interviewed as part of a case-control study conducted in New Hampshire between 1994 and 1998. Participants underwent a structured personal interview with regard to history of hair dye use and bladder cancer risk factors. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to compute odds ratios that were associated with hair dye use, while controlling for potential confounding factors. A history of any hair dye use was inversely associated with bladder cancer incidence in men [adjusted odds ratio (OR) ‫؍‬ 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI)‫-3.0؍‬ 0.8], although risk reductions were not statistically significant for individual dye types. In women, use of permanent (adjusted OR ‫؍‬ 1.5; 95%CI ‫؍‬ 0.8 -2.7) and rinse-type hair dye (adjusted OR ‫؍‬ 1.7; 95%CI ‫؍‬ 0.8 -3.6) were associated with a modestly elevated risk of bladder cancer but with limited statistical precision; no association was found with use of semi-permanent dyes (adjusted OR ‫؍‬ 0.7; 95%CI ‫؍‬ 0.3-1.4). For permanent hair dye use, odds ratios were most pronounced for younger age at first use, higher frequency and prolonged time since first use; however there were no clear trends in risk by these factors. In light of the prevalence of hair dye use, further studies are needed that address the effects of specific colors and types of hair dyes along with the possible role of individual susceptibility. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: hair dye; bladder cancer; permanent dye; case-control; logistic regressionIt is estimated that about 33% of women above age 18 and over 10% of men over age 40 in the USA use hair dyes. 1 Occupational use of hair dyes by hairdressers and barbers has been associated with an increased risk of bladder-cancer in a number of cohort and case-control studies. 1 Combined, the cohort studies estimated a relative risk of bladder cancer associated with occupational exposure to hair dyes of 1.4 for 81,075 subjects (RR ϭ 1.1 for females, RR ϭ 1.6 for males), although control for smoking may be problematic. 1 Results of a recent follow-up cohort study in Sweden indicated an excess risk of bladder cancer among male hairdressers working at the 1960 census [standardized incidence ratio (SIR) ϭ 1.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-1.6], however no excess risk was observed in recent decades. 2 Furthermore, the carcinogenic risk associated with personal use of hair dyes remains unclear. Several large studies, including the Nurses' Health cohort study 3 and the American Cancer Society cohort study, 4,5 indicated no increased risk of bladder cancer among ...

TP53 alterations and patterns of carcinogen exposure in a U.S. population‐based study of bladder cancer

“…The current case series is part of a case-control study where analysis of the data raises the possibility of an increased risk for bladder cancer among certain subgroups of hair dye users. 19 Hair dyes have been noted to contain putative bladder carcinogens, 48,49 and the association of use with TP53 alteration suggests that there may be a genotoxic mechanism responsible for the observed hair dye-bladder cancer risk association in some epidemiologic studies. Also, aromatic amines contained in hair dyes would be expected to produce transition mutations, consistent with what we observed.…”

“…18 Such studies strengthen the evidence for causality and may aid translation of mechanistic data into prevention strategies. Therefore, as part of a population-based case-control study of bladder cancer in New Hampshire, we sought to investigate the patterns of TP53 inactivation associated with potential carcinogenic exposures, 19 studying 330 bladder cancer cases.…”

Personal Permanent Hair Dye Use Is Not Associated with Bladder Cancer Risk: Evidence from a Case-Control Study

“…5) and the other concluded that there was a 22% to 50% increased bladder cancer risk for permanent hair dye users (6). However, the latter report did not include the most recent negative casecontrol study (10) and the pooled significant ORs were obtained by excluding selected studies that the authors deemed questionable in study design. The largest cohort study with f600,000 women (including 336 bladder cancer deaths) produced a RR of 1.08 (95% CI, 0.84-1.38) between permanent hair dye use and bladder cancer mortality after 16 years of follow-up (11).…”

Hair dye use and risk of human cancer

“…A total of 11 case-control studies (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and three cohort studies (16)(17)(18) have investigated the relationship between personal hair dye use and risk of bladder cancer (Table 1). These investigations assessing hair dye use and risk of bladder cancer have produced inconsistent results.…”