Carcinogens off the Shelf?

[摘要] Should you be concerned that a product on the shelf in your local supermarket or drugstore may cause cancer? Some people are. In this issue of the Journal, Jacob et al. (1) have accessed cancer-related reports concerning cosmetic products on file with the Adverse Event Reporting System within the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. They note from the outset the impact of media coverage on community awareness and that the majority of associations made between product usage and cancer incidence currently lack conclusive evidence. But even if the evidence is equivocal at best in most cases, the burden of anxiety born by many people is evident from this study. Can that burden be lifted, or at least reoriented with reference to proven causes of cancer, through initiatives by cancer professionals?

[学科分类] 肿瘤学