Aspirin prevents skin cancer

Aspirin and some similar painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen may reduce the risk of developing three main forms of skin cancer, a new study suggests.

Scientists studied the medical literature of northern Danish people from 1991 to 2009. They discovered 3,242 malignant tumors, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, along with 1,974 diagnoses. Squamous cell cancer and 13,316 basal cell cancer diagnosis. They also analyzed prescription data from patients and information from 178,655 individuals without the disease.

People who took more than two sterroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had a 15% lower risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma and a 13% lower risk of developing malignant tumors than others. The effect was more pronounced in people who took NSAIDs for more than 7 years or at high density.

Mr. Sigrun Alba of Aarhus Medical University, Denmark said: 'We hope the potential effectiveness of this drug will bring many advantages for research to prevent skin cancer. This should be included in the program discussing the benefits and harms of NSAID use. "

The research results were published in the Cancer magazine of the American Cancer Society.