A study says that pain relievers that are taken orally can reduce the risk of skin cancer. According to the study, it is said that the pain killer such as Aspirin and other pain killer or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) reduces the risk of squamous cell carcinoma.
Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer which occurs mainly due to the exposure of ultraviolet light. It can be cured if it is diagnosed and treated in the initial stage. If not, it can be deadly. Actinic keratosis, a lesion, if not treated at the right time, it can be transformed into skin cancer. Topical NSAID, diclofenac is very useful for this cancer.
The researchers, analyzed the data from more than nine studies where Aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDS were prescribed for the patients. Some patients used both Aspirin and NSAID and some used only non-aspirin NSAID.
After analyzing, they found 18% reduced risk of squamous cell carcinoma in patients who were using NSAIDs. Using Aspirin also reduced the risk, but it was not significant. Adding to this point, Catherine M. Oslen, the co-author and the researcher of QIMR Berghofer, said that these data are preliminary. Further clinical trials have to be done to see if these are beneficial.
