Can certain jobs increase the risk of ovarian cancer?

There are certain professions that increase the risk of ovarian cancer in women, a new study has found. According to researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada, hairdressers, beauticians, accountants and women working in four other professions, could be more susceptible to developing ovarian cancer than the average woman. Published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the study analysed data on women aged between 18 to 79. What is ovarian cancer and what has the study found? Let’s take a closer look. What is ovarian cancer? Ovarian cancer refers to the abnormal growth of cells in ovaries or fallopian tubes. Ovaries are small, oval-shaped glands that produce eggs in females. According to Medical News Today, there may be no symptoms in the early stage of ovarian cancer. It can develop and spread throughout a person’s abdomen before they start noticing the symptoms.

Thus, ovarian cancer is called a “silent killer” as it is mostly diagnosed after the disease has reached an advanced stage.

Dr Ronny Drapkin, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Daily Mail that its detection is late because the cancer is located in the pelvis. “The pelvis is like a bowl, so a tumor there can grow quite large before it actually becomes noticeable,” Drapkin explained. Doctors believe symptoms such as bloating or an increase in the size of the abdomen; pelvic or abdominal pain; losing appetite or feeling full quickly; and urinating more frequently or urgently could be early warning signs of ovarian cancer, noted the Harvard Health Publishing article. The disease affects women and people assigned female at birth. How was the study conducted? The researchers at the University of Montreal examined data of 491 Canadian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and compared it with 897 women who did not have the disease, as per Sky News. Different details were collected from the participants, including their employment history. [caption id=“attachment_12855452” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Hairdressers, barbers or beauticians have a three-fold higher risk of ovarian cancer, says the study. Pixabay (Representational Image)[/caption] The researchers then analysed several factors such as whether these women were likely to come in contact with certain chemicals while at work, as per The Independent. ALSO READ: What is the Guillain-Barré Syndrome, the rare disorder that has forced Peru to declare national emergency? Findings The study found that hairdressers, barbers or beauticians have a three-fold higher risk of ovarian cancer. It further says that people working as accountants for at least 10 years are twice as likely to develop the disease, and construction workers have three times more risk. Those working in the clothing industry, including embroidery, for a long time were 85 per cent more vulnerable, those employed in sales were 45 per cent, while those in retail had 59 per cent increased risk, noted Daily Mail. The study says that women working as hairdressers, beauticians and in similar professions were exposed to over 10 chemical agents including cosmetic talc, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, hair dust, synthetic fibres, polyester fibres, organic dyes, and pigments and bleaches, reported Sky News. “We observed associations suggesting that accountancy, hairdressing, sales, sewing and related occupations may be linked to excess risks,” the authors said in the study. People working in accountancy may have a heightened ovarian cancer risk due to the sedentary nature of the job, the study said, as per Daily Mail. However, the researchers pointed out that it is not clear whether the link to ovarian cancer is due to a single agent, a combination or other workplace factors. They also acknowledged that “inferences from the results are limited”. “Further population-based research is needed to evaluate possible hazards for female workers and occupations commonly held by women,” the authors added. As per Sky News, academics from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland in the United States said in a linked editorial that the study “reminds us 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. “By excluding women, we miss the opportunity to identify risk factors for female-specific cancers, to evaluate whether sex-specific differences in risk occur, and to study exposures occurring in occupations held primarily by women.” With inputs from agencies