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No Protection Against Common Skin Cancer With Aspirin, Ibuprofen

by Trilok Kapur on Feb 17 2010 12:01 PM

According to a new study, the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and celecoxib offer no protection against a common skin cancer.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduce pain and inflammation by blocking an enzyme involved in producing inflammatory compounds.

Maryam M. Asgari, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, and colleagues studied 415 health plan members who were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2004 and 415 control patients who were the same age, [Bleep] and race but had no history of skin cancer. Participants completed a questionnaire about NSAID use in the 10 years prior.

The majority of participants (61 percent) reported regular use of NSAIDs within the previous ten years, including 48 percent who used aspirin, 18 percent who used ibuprofen, 5 percent who used naproxen and 4 percent who used nabumetone.

"Regular use of any NSAID was not associated with a reduction in squamous cell carcinoma risk. Although NSAID users whose exposure was of short duration (one to three years) appeared to be at somewhat increased risk for squamous cell carcinoma, we found no consistent effects of duration of use of any NSAID on squamous cell carcinoma risk," the authors said.

Squamous cell carcinoma risk also did not appear to change regardless of NSAID dose, whether the medications were administered by a pharmacy nor with any individual type of NSAID medication.

The study will appear in the April print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Source-ANI
TRI


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