A team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute have conducted the largest study to date assessing the relationship between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and ovarian cancer risk. Their findings show that taking aspirin daily may lower women's risk of ovarian cancer; however researchers caution that more studies are needed before clinical recommendations can be made.
In the study, researchers examined a dozen previous epidemiological studies that included roughly 8,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and nearly 12,000 women who did not have the disease. According to an NCI release:
The researchers determined that participants who reported daily aspirin use had a 20 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer than those who used aspirin less than once per week. For non-aspirin NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), which include a wide variety of drugs, the picture was less clear: the scientists observed a 10 percent lower ovarian cancer risk among women who used NSAIDs at least once per week compared with those who used NSAIDs less frequently. However, this finding did not fall in a range that was significant statistically. In contrast to the findings for aspirin and NSAIDs, use of acetaminophen, which is not an anti-inflammatory agent, was not associated with reduced ovarian cancer risk.
This study comes on the heels of Stanford research showing that aspirin use appears to cut the risk of another type of cancer (melanoma) in women.
Previously: Can repackaging aspirin get more people to take it daily for prevention? and New research shows aspirin may cut melanoma risk
Photo by Chaval Brasil
