I heard about this paper last year. I am a lavender addict, and had just started using tea tree oil on my nails. I had tried to find the original paper, and had told my onc about it. The paper talks about the boys and how the "gynecomasty" ebbed as soon as the use of tea tree and lavender products was discontinued.
I have looked to see if anyone had ever added these two oils to the list of things BC patients should avoid. Lots of lists of the standard stuff: soy, black kohash, flax exist, but no one has yet added lavender or tea tree.
The original article does speculate on using these in pre-pubertal girls, but BC is never mentioned. There has been no further research published. I did email Dr. Clifford Bloch, at Colorado Hosp about it and did not hear back (did not expect a reply). I also mentioned it to one of the oncs at the Cure symposia in May. He was an "herbalist" too. And was aware of the research. I hope the word starts to get out. However, we must remember there is no evidence to link the use of these with BC.
But I wanna tell ya, I don't use the stuff anymore. I have tons of expensive lavender stuff sitting in my bath cabinet but don't want to pass it on to anyone.
The tissue culture stuff gave me the willies. Who knows how much junk has estrogenic qualities?
Carla
Orig paper:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/5/479
In men, abstract, not sure how paper is cited:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/336/7646/709
Referenced for use of contraindicated self-therapy:
http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/c.../full/nem185v1
You can read all the letters responding to the original article by researching at your hospital, or logging a free tempory subscription to The New England Journal of Medicine.
Just curious. Have any of your oncs warned you against the use of tea tree or Lavender?
When I told my onc about this (emailed her the orig link, she seemed uninterested at best. I had yeard a story on NPR when the article was first published. (But you may have seen me comment on her enthusiasum).
Carla