Lace Front Wigs And The Forehead Cancer Scare

Alarming reports about Lace Front Wigs and the forehead cancer scare left the inquisitive world with far more disturbing questions than answers. Who conducted the study? Why are black women more at risk of developing forehead cancer? Should black women start burning their wigs en masse for the sake of survival?

You can all relax, sisters! You don’t have to read any further to let out a sigh of relief. Your lace front wigs are not apt to give you forehead cancer any more than they’re about to give you breast cancer, bad breath or chipped nails. So, where did the forehead cancer scare start? Let’s connect the dots.

Meet Dr. Ron DePinho, the president of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. This highly-awarded research scientist has written about 250 research articles for scientific journals. Such studies, especially by accomplished and respected professionals within the scientific community, make it easier to secure public and private funding for research and development. Without the framework and supportive facts held within studies, it isn’t going to rain money.

Now meet Dr. Lynda Chin. She’s the head of MDACC’s relatively new Institute of Applied Cancer Science (IACS). IACS is an independent research lab started by Dr. DePinho to bring promising researchers together to solicit funding for shared studies. The mission of the lab is to conduct genetic studies and behavioral research to predict the likely target of specific cancers. Doing so is intended to result in more accurate prevention education, diagnostics and treatments.

Drug research and development is a huge part of IACS. There are nearly three dozen new drugs or treatments currently in various stages of development. Clinical trials have led to the FDA approval of some. Relationships are being established between MDACC and pharmaceutical giants to push it all into high gear. Imagine what it’s worth to be able to fine-tune a search and destroy program for cancer based on ethnicity and personal behaviors. Wouldn’t you buy some stock in that company?

Drs. DePinho and Chin share the same professional and investment path; they each have a stake in some biotech companies that are promising to deliver the best cancer diagnostics and therapies. They jointly formed Aveo Oncology to develop drugs that are cancer-type specific. They are also working on providing immunity to various cancers through antibody therapy.

Now let’s take a brief look at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). They have the daunting task of doling out the taxpayers’ money to the tune of $3 billion for promising cancer research projects. They issued MDACC a grant for $18 million upon receiving the application submitted by Dr. DePinho for IACS. The funding was approved much faster than usual, maybe because there was a bypass of the standard scientific review of the grant proposal.

The end recipient of the monetary windfall was Dr. Chin. She spent $1.5 million of it to create an expansive, modern office suite that used up about 25,000 square feet of space. Yes, that’s enough space to accommodate 10 average-sized houses. She had no choice. She insisted that she needed ample conference facilities for conducting comfortable confabs with the power brokers of the research world. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If you wanted some no-strings-attached money from Warren Buffet or Bill Gates, would you deliver your prospectus in a booth at Wendy’s?

Oh, you might want to know that Drs. DePinho and Chin are not just professional research and development partners; they are personal partners, as well. They are husband and wife. How wonderful that she was able to translate her home design and decorating experience into the professional setting. Just ignore all of the indicators surrounding this couple that point to conflicts of interest.

A number of scientists have jumped from the CPRIT ship due to what they refer to as the compromised integrity of the process of selecting grant recipients. They’re openly talking about the influence of profit-seeking commercial partners, good ol’ boy politics and ‘plain as the nose on your face’ favoritism. Now, what sort of credibility do you suppose remains with the dynamic DePinho and Chin duo?

By the way, citing dramatic findings in studies typically leads to an influx of funding, especially when the results support the hyped-up objectives of the researchers. The research methods are far from following standard scientific research protocol if the primary objective from the start is to find specific results. IACS has enough funding to last through 2015 with about $150 million cash on hand.

Some predictable fallout accompanies the ongoing conflict of interest scandal. After the over-the-top construction of Dr. Chin’s work space, employees at MDACC were told to tighten their belts and not expect any pay increases because the center is spending more than it’s taking in. They screamed ‘foul’ loud and clear. Now, the highly well-funded IACS is letting go of hundreds of workers. Dr. DePinho continues to rake in his base pay of $1.4 million per year just for standing at the helm.

It’s easy to see the holes all over the supposed correlation between lace front wigs and forehead cancer. An exhaustive search for any legitimate, documented scientific study (or even a reasonably intelligent article) about the subject turned up absolutely nothing. Zero. Ziltch. That’s not surprising, is it? What is ‘forehead cancer’? Is it a reference to ‘skin cancer of the forehead’? Possibly.

There’s a loose theory (akin to a loose cannon?) floating around that front lace wigs trap moisture and this leads to the development of abnormal skin cells which can then turn cancerous. Well, plain ol’ logic says that lace caps breathe more than most other caps. So, why don’t other types of wigs Human Hair Wigs cause ‘forehead cancer’? After all, the elusive study isn’t blaming the hairline glue or any chemical irritation that might be caused by it. Also note that the wigs rest on the hairline; not on the forehead. The forehead stays moisture-free.

Okay. Let’s move on. Why are black women prone to this horrible forehead cancer? After all, women from other ethnic backgrounds wear lace front wigs. Ah, that’s simple! According to the sophisticated behavioral research of IACS (these are elusive, too), most women who wear wigs are black (okay..and?) and there are more young inner city black girls wearing wigs today (okay..and?) and it has become popular largely due to the influence of the rich and famous who are suddenly wearing wigs for all to see and mimic. Really?

Opinions and guesswork aren’t a part of the scientific research process, even when pertaining to behavioral studies. Some of those so-called findings are incredibly far-fetched and clearly biased. The truth is that entertainers and the upper-crust have been wearing wigs since they came into existence. By the way, can you name one (just one? any one?) with forehead cancer? How about one with skin cancer of the forehead?

The bottom line is this: There’s a whole lot of moolah to be passed around among the researchers, the pharmaceutical companies, the grant givers, the public health educators and so on. DePinho and crew aim to rid the world of all forms of cancer. That shouldn’t be too tough considering that he also intends to stop the aging process. He’s conducting the necessary research on genetically-engineered mice. Are you suddenly imagining lab mice wearing lace front wigs? Oh, the madness.