Information about breast cancer

Proven: bras do not cause breast cancer

The rumor keeps popping up: bras, and underwire bras in particular, could impede the flow of lymph under the breast, causing toxins to accumulate at the level of the breasts, increasing the risk of breast cancer. It's a warped argument that persists stubbornly and keeps popping up in the media, making women very worried. Fortunately, scientists have researched this thoroughly (1).

They analyzed the bra habits of more than 1,500 women between the ages of 55 and 74, two-thirds of whom had breast cancer and one-third of whom did not. Of all these women, they collected the following data: cup size, the number of hours a day they wore a bra, from what age they wore a bra and whether or not they chose an underwire bra. The scientists took into account family prevalence of breast cancer, intake of hormone replacement therapy before menopause and having children, lest these affect the results. They concluded that there is no relationship between bras and breast cancer. Whether you wore an underwire bra day and night since puberty or resisted wearing any bra all your life makes no difference to your risk of breast cancer. We are grateful to scientists for investigating the myth and debunking it for good to reassure women.

Written by Marleen Finoulst

(1) Chen L, Malone K, Li C. Bra Wearing Not Association with Breast Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Case-Control Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23:2181-2185.

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