Regular doses of ibuprofen lowers smokers' risk of lung cancer by 48%

December 10, 2016  10:46

Regular doses of ibuprofen may lower smokers' risk of lung cancer, new research reveals.

We know the painkiller, a non-steroidal drug, eases inflammation in the body. 

Now researchers at Ohio State University have found clear evidence that - taken in small doses at regular intervals - it can dispel much of the inflammation that leads to tumors in the lungs.

It is one of the first studies to have examined specific types of anti-inflammatory medication, and how they affect smokers' cancer risk.

To test the effect, a team led by Dr Marisa Bittoni consulted data from 10,735 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Baseline data on smoking, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other lifestyle variables were collected for the participants between 1988 and 1994.

The study also determined each person's mortality status using the National Death Index through 2006.  

Over 18 years of follow-up, 269 individuals died from lung cancer, of which 252 (93.6 percent) reported a history of cigarette smoking. 

Since all but 17 of the 269 fatal lung cancer cases occurred among current or former smokers, estimates of NSAID effects were ascertained from a sub-cohort of 5,882 individuals who reported a history of past or current cigarette smoking. 

Dr Bittoni found that prospective data from the study showed that among adults with a history of past or current smoking, ibuprofen intake was associated with a substantial (48 percent) reduction in the risk of dying from lung cancer. 

Effects of aspirin and acetaminophen were not statistically significant.

'These results suggest that regular use of certain NSAIDs may be beneficial for high-risk subgroups of smokers as a lung cancer prevention strategy,' Bittoni said.

The data was presented at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Vienna, Austria.

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