Pain Relievers May Reduce Cancer Risk

March 23, 2010 -- For some time, studies have suggested that aspirin and
other over-the-counter painkillers may protect against breast and ovarian
cancer. Now new research may help explain why.
Postmenopausal women in the study who took aspirin, other nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Advil, Aleve, and Motrin, or Tylenol
(acetaminophen) on a regular basis had lower estrogen levels than women who did
not take the pain relievers.
The declines were modest, but the findings bolster suspicions that the
painkillers may reduce the risk of most breast and ovarian cancers by
suppressing the hormones that fuel them.
Study researcher Margaret A. Gates, ScD, says the association must be
confirmed before analgesics can be recommended for cancer prevention. That's
because the risks may outweigh potential benefits.
Regular aspirin and NSAID use are associated with rare, but possibly
serious, stomach and intestinal bleeding, and Tylenol has been linked to liver
failure.
Gates is a research fellow in epidemiology at Boston's Brigham and Women's
Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
"A randomized trial that directly measures the impact of analgesic use on
hormone levels in a similar population of postmenopausal women would be
helpful," she tells WebMD.





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