• 6/11/2005
  • Oslo, Norway
  • MacLeans (macleans.ca)

Smokers in particular may benefit from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Smokers might reduce their risk for developing cancer of the mouth by taking pain medications called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs include Aspirin and ibuprofen as well as COX-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex, which have been the subject of recent controversy over whether they increase the risk for heart disease. Other studies suggest NSAIDs may protect against colorectal and breast cancer.

“The results of a significant reduction in oral cancer risk — particularly in light to moderate active smokers — suggest that NSAID use may provide an anti-carcinogenic effect while the smokers are subjecting themselves to tobacco insult,” says Dr. Jon Sudbø, a cancer researcher from the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo.

Sudbø and his colleagues studied data on more than 3,200 people judged to be at high risk for oral cancer because of their tobacco habits. The 454 people diagnosed with oral cancer were matched with 454 people who were smokers but did not develop oral cancer. Twice as many people in the cancer-free group used NSAIDs.

Light to moderate active smokers who took NSAIDs daily for at least six months had a 65 per cent lower risk of oral cancer than smokers who went without NSAIDs.

The drugs worked best for smokers who had consumed 30 or fewer pack-years of tobacco. A pack-year is the equivalent of smoking one pack of cigarettes each day for a year.