NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 09 - New research shows chronic users of acetaminophen are at slightly increased risk for hematologic cancers.
Yet the risk remains low, and it's still uncertain what role the drug plays. The results appear online May 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Earlier work has shown that aspirin use might lower the odds of dying from colon cancer but increase the risk of bleeding ulcers. The picture has been less clear hematologic cancers, however.
Dr. Emily White of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who worked on the new research, said that while there have been some suggestions that acetaminophen might increase the risk of hematologic cancers, those were based on case reports. The current study is the first large prospective one, Dr. White told Reuters Health.
Still, she warned, there's no proof that acetaminophen causes cancer, and the new results need to be confirmed before they are used in any treatment decision.
The researchers followed nearly 65,000 older men and women in Washington State, all free of any history of cancer (except skin cancer) at baseline. At the outset, they asked the participants about their use of analgesics over the past ten years.
Over about six years on average, 577 people -- or less than 1% -- developed a hematologic cancer.
More than 9% of people who developed one of these cancers used high amounts of acetaminophen, compared to only 5% of those who didn't get sick.
After accounting for things like age, arthritis and a family history of certain blood cancers, chronic acetaminophen users had nearly twice the risk of developing the disease.
"A person who is age 50 or older has about a 1% risk in ten years of getting one of these cancers," Dr. White said. "Our study suggests that if you use acetaminophen at least four times a week for at least four years, that would increase the risk to about 2%."
No other analgesics -- including aspirin and ibuprofen -- were tied to the risk of blood cancers.
Dr. Raymond DuBois of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told Reuters Health by email that the findings are "quite surprising." He was not involved in the study.
McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that sells Tylenol, did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr. White said it's too soon to make any recommendations based on the new study, and that none of the painkillers is free of side effects.
"Long-term use of any over the counter drug might have adverse effects," she said. "You have to weigh the benefits against the risk of all the drugs."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/l8aYI0
J Clin Oncol 2011.
Yet the risk remains low, and it's still uncertain what role the drug plays. The results appear online May 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Earlier work has shown that aspirin use might lower the odds of dying from colon cancer but increase the risk of bleeding ulcers. The picture has been less clear hematologic cancers, however.
Dr. Emily White of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who worked on the new research, said that while there have been some suggestions that acetaminophen might increase the risk of hematologic cancers, those were based on case reports. The current study is the first large prospective one, Dr. White told Reuters Health.
Still, she warned, there's no proof that acetaminophen causes cancer, and the new results need to be confirmed before they are used in any treatment decision.
The researchers followed nearly 65,000 older men and women in Washington State, all free of any history of cancer (except skin cancer) at baseline. At the outset, they asked the participants about their use of analgesics over the past ten years.
Over about six years on average, 577 people -- or less than 1% -- developed a hematologic cancer.
More than 9% of people who developed one of these cancers used high amounts of acetaminophen, compared to only 5% of those who didn't get sick.
After accounting for things like age, arthritis and a family history of certain blood cancers, chronic acetaminophen users had nearly twice the risk of developing the disease.
"A person who is age 50 or older has about a 1% risk in ten years of getting one of these cancers," Dr. White said. "Our study suggests that if you use acetaminophen at least four times a week for at least four years, that would increase the risk to about 2%."
No other analgesics -- including aspirin and ibuprofen -- were tied to the risk of blood cancers.
Dr. Raymond DuBois of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told Reuters Health by email that the findings are "quite surprising." He was not involved in the study.
McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that sells Tylenol, did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr. White said it's too soon to make any recommendations based on the new study, and that none of the painkillers is free of side effects.
"Long-term use of any over the counter drug might have adverse effects," she said. "You have to weigh the benefits against the risk of all the drugs."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/l8aYI0
J Clin Oncol 2011.
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