There’s a lot of information about what may or may not cause breast cancer, and it can be difficult to know what to believe.
Research has found no evidence that the factors below increase your risk of developing breast cancer.
Trauma to the breast
There is no evidence to show a blow or an injury to the breast can cause breast cancer.
You may notice a lump in your breast around the same time as an injury, but that’s usually because an injury draws attention to that part of the breast.
Underwire bras
There’s no evidence that underwire bras cause breast cancer.
Mobile phones
There's no evidence that carrying a mobile phone in your bra causes breast cancer.
Breast implants
There’s no evidence linking saline or silicone breast implants to an increased risk of breast cancer.
Implants may make it slightly harder to see all of the breast tissue on a mammogram, but radiographers use special procedures during mammograms to help them see as much breast tissue as possible.
Textured silicone implants are associated with a small risk of a very rare cancer of the immune system called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Further research is needed to understand this link.
There’s no evidence to suggest that any type of deodorant or antiperspirant can cause breast cancer.
Abortion
There’s no evidence linking breast cancer and abortion.
Some early studies did suggest a possible link, but they relied on people reporting their own history, which isn’t always accurate. Larger, better designed studies that followed women over time have not found any link.
Hair dyes
There’s no evidence that hair dyes cause breast cancer.
Electromagnetic fields
There's no evidence that electromagnetic fields from wires and electronic devices cause breast cancer.
Collagen
Studies on collagen and breast cancer aren’t conclusive. It does seem that cancer cells might spread through the collagen fibres that occur naturally within the breast.
However, there’s no evidence that dietary collagen supplements are linked to breast cancer. This could be because they’re a relatively new supplement and the studies haven't been done yet.
The studies completed so far have looked at whether dietary collagen can reach the skin. It does seem to, and that's why it likely works well for some people from an anti-ageing perspective. There's also some evidence that collagen supplements can relieve joint pain or help prevent osteoporosis, so it may reach the bone and joints as well. That doesn't necessarily mean it would reach the breast tissue or do anything helpful or harmful if it did.
For now, there's no evidence linking collagen supplements to breast cancer, but we don't have a clear answer either way.
