Excessive body odor was touted as one of the factors that can increase the risk of breast cancer. Although the results of scientific research Japan is still very early, but this could be a signal for women to further maintain the cleanliness of himself.
Japanese scientists recently have discovered a gene variation associated with risk of breast cancer are also associated with body odor and ear wax.
The invention is not intended to create worry among women, said Toshi Ishikawa, PhD, professor of Biomolecular Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology. Instead, he said, “we are very hopeful that we will provide a new and better ways to predict the risk of breast cancer” by using new methods developed by this team.
Having a wet ear wax or excessive body odor does not mean a woman to get breast cancer, says Ishikawa. “To be clear, I have to explicitly mention that the [discovery of the gene variation associated with body odor, wet ear wax, and the risk of breast cancer] is one factor that can increase the risk of breast cancer,” says Ishikawa. “It is also closely related to other factors, such as environmental factors and mutations of tumor killer genes such as BRCA1, BRCA2, p53, and so on.”
In this study, Ishikawa and his team extracted DNA from blood samples taken from 124 volunteers at Nagasaki University of Japan.
They study the ABCC11 gene, discovered in 2001. Variations of this gene have been associated with increased risk of breast cancer. These variations, called SNPs (“snips”) or single nucleotide polymorphisms, which can only occur when a nucleus of a cell or molecular changes. Although many SNPs do not affect the workings of cells, experts believe that sometimes there are variations that can cause a person to certain diseases such as cancer or affect the person’s response to treatment.
In this study, Ishikawa observe the activity of proteins made by the gene ABCC11, ABCC11 find the relationship between genes, body odor and ear wax. Then they found the mechanism that regulates cell ear wax, excessive body odor and breast cancer risk.
Women Do not Worry
Women do not have to worry with these results, says Christy Russell, MD, professor of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. “At this moment the research is still very early and the women do not need to be concerned by the problem of body odor and dirt ears as a sign that they may have a higher risk of breast cancer.”
“The problem with body odor and ear wax is common to everyone” he said.
The researchers are expected to know exactly the level of cellular mechanism that resulted in three conditions above (body odor, ear wax and breast cancer), said Gerald Weissmann, MD, of The FASEB Journal and a professor of Biotechnology Study Center at New York University.
This is a study that combines the science of genetics, human anthropology, and molecular and cell biology. Development of a rapid method of SNP typing can be used to help predict the risk of serious diseases like cancer by analyzing the things that are considered trivial, such as body odor and ear wax. “
