Nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs and the risk of skin cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may prevent the development of cancer by inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, which are involved in carcinogenesis. Therefore, the authors of this report examined the association between NSAID use and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and malignant melanoma (MM). METHODS: From 1991 through 2009, all incident cases of SCC (n ¼ 1974), BCC (n ¼ 13,316), and MM (n ¼ 3242) in northern Denmark were identified. Approximately 10 population controls (n ¼ 178,655) were matched to each case by age, gender, and county of residence. The use of aspirin, other nonselective NSAIDs, or selective COX-2 inhibitors was ascertained through a prescription database. Conditional logistic regression analyses adjusted for potential confounders were used to compute odds ratios as estimates of incidence rate ratios (IRRs). RESULTS: For NSAIDs overall, ever use (>2 prescriptions) compared with nonuse ( 2 prescriptions) was associated with a decreased risk of SCC (IRR, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.94) and MM (IRR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.80-0.95), especially for long-term use (!7 years) and high-intensity use (>25% prescription coverage during the total duration of use). NSAID use was not associated with a reduced risk of BCC overall (IRR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.93-1.01), but the risk of BCC at sites other than the head and neck was reduced in association with long-term use (IRR, 0.85; 95% CI,) and high-intensity use (IRR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69-0.91). All estimates of reduced risk were driven primarily by the use of nonselective NSAIDs and older COX-2 inhibitors (diclofenac, etodolac, and meloxicam). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated that NSAID use may decrease the risk of SCC and MM.

Aspirin and Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Can Prevent Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…After 49 duplicates were removed, 237 titles and abstracts were reviewed and 11 full articles were retrieved for review (Amari et al, 2011;Asgari et al, 2010;Butler et al, 2005;Clouser et al, 2009;Cook et al, 2005;Elmets et al, 2010;Grau et al, 2006;Jeter et al, 2012;Johannesdottir et al, 2012;Nunes et al, 2011;Torti et al, 2011). Two reports identified did not contain sufficient information to meet the inclusion criteria (Amari et al, 2011;Cook et al, 2005) since one reported an effect estimate for keratinocyte cancers collectively (Amari et al, 2011), and the second reported estimates for total cancer and some major cancers excluding SCC (Cook et al, 2005), leaving 9 studies providing detailed data for inclusion in the meta-analysis.…”

3d metal complexes with meloxicam as therapeutic agents in the fight against human glioblastoma multiforme and cervical carcinoma

“…[10,11] In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the antitumour activity of NSAIDs due to at least three reasons: (1) COX-2 is found to be overexpressed in many cancers thus making it an attractive therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of a number of malignancies [11,12]; (2) chronic inflammation has been proved to play an important role in cancer development and progression [13,14]; (3) NSAIDs are used also by oncology patients and the 'relationships' between these drugs and cancer cells have to be better clarified. [15] Numerous studies have suggested that aspirin and/or other NSAIDs can be effective in the prevention and/or treatment of malignancies, such as cancers of the colon, [16] breast, [17,18] lung, [19] pancreas, [20] prostate, [21,22] ovarium, [23] squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, [24] etc. Different NSAIDs have been reported to inhibit the growth and survival of cell lines established from a wide variety of cancers, including gastric cancer, [25,26] cancers of the colon, [27] lung, [28] urinary bladder, [29] osteosarcoma, [30] etc.…”

Cell-type-specific roles for COX-2 in UVB-induced skin cancer

“…A recent population-based study suggested that NSAIDs may decrease human SCC risk (8). Both indomethacin (an NSAID) and celecoxib (a COX-2 selective inhibitor), delay appearance of UVB-induced skin tumors on SKH-1 mice.…”