October 15 is World Breast Cancer Day. We decided to test the common belief that wearing a bra that is too tight can lead to cancer.

About the connection between the occurrence of the disease and an incorrectly selected bra They say not only medical sites and shops of the lower linen, but also quite reputable professionals. For example, Andrei Tyazhelnikov, a specialist in the capital’s health department believes: “If parts of the bra cut into the body, compressing soft tissues and blood vessels, then nerve fibers may be damaged. This can cause numbness in the hands or decreased sensitivity. Other symptoms of a tight bra include headaches, neck and chest pain. The armpits are home to several lymph nodes. Their compression leads to stagnation of lymph, which provokes the accumulation of cell waste products here. This can provoke allergies, hypertension and even cancer. Compression in the chest and mammary glands also leads to congestion in the circulatory system. The blood flow that delivers oxygen to the cells and transports carbon dioxide from them is disrupted. Stagnation of blood has a very negative effect on the condition of the walls of blood vessels.”

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the main cause of death among women among all cancers. In 2020, more than 2.3 million women were diagnosed with it, and 685,000 died from the disease. Breast cancer occurs in the epithelial cells of the mammary ducts in most cases (85%) or in the lobules (15%) of the glandular tissue of the mammary gland. There are mentions of pathology even in papyri Ancient Egypt.

Fragments from the Edwin Smith papyrus. New York Academy of Medicine

Towards reliable risk factors include increasing age, obesity, alcohol abuse, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, early onset of menstruation and late menopause, smoking, and a family history. Several genes have been identified that are associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Among them the most famous genes BRCA1 and BRCA2: mutation in them discovered, for example, Angelina Jolie. After the 1970s, the number of breast tumors increased, researchers attribute this primarily to a decrease in the number of children in families and a decrease in breastfeeding time, since both pregnancy and lactation reduce risk of pathology.

The emergence of the idea that tight underwear causes breast cancer can, with a high degree of probability, be traced back to within a year and even its author can be identified. In 1995 in the USA came out book Dressed to Kill by Sidney Ross Singer and Soma Griesmeier. It is worth noting that both authors did not have a medical education. In their book, they provide data from a survey of 4,700 American women already diagnosed with breast cancer, and also describe the experience of Soma herself, who had the same diagnosis. All respondents in their book note that they wore a bra. Based on this, the authors concluded that there is a connection between underwear and the disease, explaining that such underwear limits the functioning of the lymphatic system, which leads to the accumulation of toxins in the body. It is worth noting that the sample is not transparent, the exact diagnoses of the respondents are not specified, and other risk factors are not analyzed. Some critics note, that perhaps the only real patient in the book is Griesmeyer herself. The data summarized by the authors have never been published in scientific journals.

In their subsequent books, the authors put forward a number of controversial judgments: Sleeping on an inclined bed can prevent Alzheimer's disease and impotence, frequent bowel movements and urination can prevent prostate hyperplasia and relieve menopausal symptoms, and high blood pressure is just a medical scam.

However, the myth, not supported by facts, spread quite widely. Reputable researchers conducted a number of experiments to refute it.

In 2014, a team of scientists examined group of women: 454 had invasive ductal breast cancer, 590 had invasive focal breast cancer and 469 were without cancer. Participants were asked a series of questions, including: “At what age did you start wearing a bra?”, “What type of bra do you wear?”, “What bra size and cup size do you wear?”, “How many hours a day and days a week do you wear a bra?” Family and reproductive history was also taken into account. Scientists have not identified any pattern between the development of pathology and wearing a bra with underwires.

The official position of the American Cancer Society is also consists of The fact is that there is no connection between wearing a bra and breast cancer. US National Center for Health Research draws attention to the fact that when the mammary glands are compressed, biological fluids move upward, to the lymph nodes in the armpits, and not under the breasts, as the authors of the book claimed. According to them, attributing harmful effects to everyday things “stems from our desire to control those areas of life in which we have a lot of uncertainty or fear. People want to know the culprit and also hope that by avoiding tight bras they can avoid breast cancer." They also provide an explanation that could have caused this misconception. Women with large breasts and excess weight wear a bra more often than women with an asthenic physique, while the presence of fat deposits is a factor that provokes oncological pathologies.

Harvard Medical School also believesthat there is no pattern between wearing underwear and cancer. The researchers note that "interviewing women after they have developed breast cancer may lead to recall bias, especially regarding data such as the age at which they started wearing a bra." They also point out that the book only included conversations with women who had cancer diagnoses and wore bras.

Beyond scientific evidence, the myth can be refuted with simple logic: breast cancer happens and in men, but they most often do not wear a bra.

Thus, there is no connection between wearing a bra and the development of breast cancer; this is nothing more than a common myth. By refusing to wear underwear, you will not be able to protect yourself from the disease. At the same time, risk factors include a whole range of phenomena, such as excess weight, alcohol abuse and smoking, which we are fully able to influence.