July 9, 2006
Women who get regular doses of acetaminophen,
found in Tylenol and other over the counter pain
relievers, may significantly reduce their risk of
ovarian cancer, according to a detailed analysis
in the July issue of British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
A research team from Athens University found that the risk fell by up to 30 per cent when they analysed the results of major studies carried out on more than 746,000 women over a six-year period.
The researchers say 4,405 of the women in the eight major studies -- from the U.S., UK and Denmark -- had ovarian cancer.
The team looked at all studies covering acetaminophen -- also known as paracetamol -- and ovarian cancer from 1966 to 2004. These were then scrutinized using sophisticated meta-analysis techniques.
"Meta-analysis involves doing a large amount of research into what has been published, summarizing the results and combining them using statistical methods" said lead researcher Dr Stefanos Bonovas from the Greek Ministry of Health.
"Analyzing a wide range studies can often throw new light on a problem and raise new research questions.
"In this case our analysis of eight major studies -- covering nearly three-quarters of a million women -- revealed a strong correlation between paracetamol use and a reduced risk of ovarian cancer," he said.
Seven of the studies looked at the links between paracetamol use and the incidence of ovarian cancer and the largest study looked at the link between paracetamol use and ovarian cancer deaths.
The researchers used a working definition of "regular use" as the highest frequency of drug use reported in the individual studies. This definition varied slightly between studies.
In the largest study -- which covered more than a third of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer -- it was defined as more than 30 tablets in the month before the study started."Ovarian cancer remains the most fatal gynaecological malignancy" Bonovas said. "Its high mortality rate -- mainly due to a combination of ineffective screening and the limited success of therapies for advanced disease -- makes ovarian cancer a major health concern.
"Strategies that focus on prevention may therefore provide the most rational approach for reducing deaths from this form of cancer.
"Because paracetamol is so widely used, a link with a decreased risk of ovarian cancer could have important public health implications."
The authors believe that further research among women with a high risk of developing ovarian cancer would provide further clues to the drug's protective qualities.
