The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7191 p419-425
30 March 2002

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

NSAID use may protect against prostate cancer

Daily use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may lower the incidence of prostate cancer, an American study suggests (Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2002;77;219)).

Dr Rosebud Roberts, department of health sciences research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues studied the incidence of prostate cancer in 1,362 men over a six-year period. Use of daily prescription and non-prescription NSAIDs was recorded at the start of the study.

The researchers found that 4.0 per cent of NSAID users developed prostate cancer during follow-up compared with 8.6 per cent of non-users (P=0.001). This translates to a relative odds of prostate cancer of 0.45 (95 per cent confidence interval, 0.28–0.73) in men who reported daily use of NSAIDs relative to men who did not, they say. The association was greatest among men who were aged 70 to 79 years at the start of the study. This group of men had a relative odds of prostate cancer of 0.17 (0.06–0.45).

The researchers suggest that the stronger association observed in older men might be due to NSAIDs preventing the progression of preclinical disease to clinically detectable disease (the prevalence of latent prostate cancer increases from 8 per cent in men in their third decade to about 40 per cent in the fifth decade).

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Michael Barry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, says: "For men who are undecided about prophylactic aspirin use, perhaps this study ... provides enough additional evidence to tip some of their personal risk-benefit assessments in the direction of starting aspirin." However, he adds that whether this method of prostate cancer risk reduction carries a higher long-term risk of prostate cancer mortality remains to be seen.