PERINEAL POWDER EXPOSURE AND THE RISK OF OVARIAN-CANCER

This case-control study evaluated the risk of epithelial ovarian cance r associated with genital exposure to various forms of powder applicat ion. Cases included all women aged 20-79 years in three counties of we stern Washington who were diagnosed with borderline or invasive ovaria n cancer from 1986 through 1988; 64.3% of eligible cases were intervie wed. A sample of similarly aged women who lived in these counties, ide ntified by random digit dialing, served as controls. The overall respo nse among control women was 68.0%. Information on powder application a nd other potential risk factors was ascertained during the in-person i nterview. Overall, ovarian cancer cases (n = 313) were more likely tha n controls (n = 422) to ever have used powder (age-adjusted relative r isk (RR) = 1.5, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.1-2.0). After adjustmen t for age and other methods of genital powder application (none vs. an y), an elevated relative risk of ovarian cancer was noted only for wom en with a history of perineal dusting (RR = 1.6, 95% Cl 1.1-2.3) or us e of genital deodorant spray (RR = 1.9, 95% Cl 1.1-3.1). These results offer support for the hypothesis, raised by prior epidemiologic studi es, that powder exposure from perineal dusting contributes to the deve lopment of ovarian cancer, and they suggest that use of genital deodor ant sprays may do so as well. Limitations of the present study include the fairly low proportion of eligible women who participated and the potential differential recall of powder usage.