Myth busted: No link between bras and breast cancer

No, bras do not cause breast cancer. The idea that bras, particularly underwire bras, somehow increase the risk of breast cancer is a persistent myth – one cancer education groups have tried to dispel for years. A new study may help bust it for good.

The study, published Friday in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found no differences in lifetime bra-wearing habits among more than 1,500 postmenopausal women with and without a history of breast cancer. It did not matter whether the bras had underwires, how many hours a day they were worn or at what age women starting wearing them. It also did not matter if women were heavy or thin, A-cupped or D-cupped, USA Today reports.

"There is no evidence that wearing a bra increases a woman's risk of breast cancer," says Lu Chen, a researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Chen led the study as part of a broader look at risk factors., She was not surprised, she says, that "there's just nothing there."

There isn't even a plausible theory on why bras would increase the risk, she says. But higher breast cancer rates in developed countries – where bra-wearing is most common – had led to speculation that there might be a link. One idea, unsupported by any research, was that bras might block the flow of fluid through the lymph system, impeding the removal of cancer-causing wastes and toxins.

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