abstract: Aspirin, Nonaspirin Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs, or Acetaminophen and Risk of Ovarian Cancer.

BACKGROUND:

Aspirin, nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NA-NSAIDs) and acetaminophen all have biologic effects that might reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. However, epidemiologic data on this question are mixed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Risk reductions of ovarian cancer were observed with use of aspirin or selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the inherent study limitations and biases.

Medical News: AACR: No NSAID Link to Ovarian Cancer (data taken from California Teachers Study)

WASHINGTON -- Regular use of anti-inflammatory drugs did not reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, a large prospective cohort study showed.

Neither weekly nor daily use of aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) influenced the relative risk of ovarian cancer, California investigators reported here at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting.

But self-reported daily use of acetaminophen almost doubled the risk of ovarian cancer, they found.

"Our results do not support the hypothesis that these medications reduce the risk of ovarian cancer," Lei Duan, PhD, of City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., and colleagues concluded. "Conversely, the finding that daily acetaminophen use was associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer differs from previous studies and may warrant further investigation."...cont'd
Action Points:

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• Explain to interested patients that regular use of aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs did not influence the risk of ovarian cancer.
• Explain that daily use of acetaminophen was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
• Explain that the findings were based on a retrospective review of a large database and therefore cannot prove that acetaminophen caused the increased risk of ovarian cancer.
• Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.