Use of common analgesics is not associated with ovarian cancer survival

abstract



Background: Use of analgesics has been associated with lower risk of ovarian cancer, but to date, very few studies have explored the association between analgesics and ovarian cancer survival.
Methods: We examined the relationship between self-reported pre-diagnostic use of aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), ascites at the time of primary treatment, and persistence of disease after primary treatment among 699 women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian carcinoma. The associations between use of these medications and OS and PFS were estimated using Cox-proportional hazards models. We utilized unconditional logistic regression models to estimate associations between medication use and presence of ascites and persistence of disease.
Results: Pre-diagnostic intake of aspirin, both low-dose and regular-dose, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen were not associated with any of the outcomes of interest.
Conclusions: Our results indicate a lack of association between pre-diagnostic intake of selected analgesics and OS, PFS, presence of ascites at the time of primary treatment, and persistence of disease after primary treatment.

Impact:  Pre-diagnostic intake of analgesics may not be associated with ovarian cancer outcomes.