Acetaminophen May Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

American Cancer Society (Georgia, USA) researchers find that men who use of 30 tablets a month or more of acetaminophen, an anti-inflammatory pain reliever, for five or more years was associated are at an estimated 38% lower risk of prostate cancer. Eric Jacobs and colleagues examined the association between acetaminophen use and prostate cancer incidence among 78,485 men in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.  Information on acetaminophen use was obtained from a questionnaire completed at study enrollment in 1992 and updated using follow-up questionnaires in 1997 and every two years thereafter.  During follow-up from 1992 through 2007, there were 8,092 incident prostate cancer cases identified. Current regular use of acetaminophen (30 pills or more, per month) for 5 years or more was associated with lower risk of overall prostate cancer, as well as lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Current regular use of less than 5 years duration was not associated with prostate cancer risk. The team comments that: “While the results of this observational study suggest that long-term regular acetaminophen use may be associated with lower prostate cancer risk, our findings require replication by other studies, and do not justify use of acetaminophen to prevent prostate cancer. Results of this study could lead to further research on acetaminophen that might provide biological insights about the process of prostate cancer development and how this process could be slowed.”