Be careful with the aspirin

Men taking aspirin are more likely to develop skin cancer

Anna Kerman, XX2 century

Prevention of melanoma – the most dangerous type of skin cancer – is certainly one of the most important points of taking care of your health. Previously, it was believed that there was only one way to influence the risk of developing melanoma: by protecting the skin from exposure to ultraviolet radiation. That is, the less often you go to the solarium and the more carefully you apply sunscreen, the, theoretically, lower your chances of getting sick. This is the truth. But recent studies have shown that a daily diet, as well as regularly taken medications, can also make a difference. Thus, the authors of the new work demonstrated that the use of aspirin can significantly increase the risk of developing melanoma in men.

Doctors recommend taking aspirin daily for two reasons. Firstly, according to experts from the Mayo Clinic, this drug has a cardioprotective effect, that is, it protects against cardiovascular diseases. Secondly, relatively recently, the National Cancer Institute of the USA stated that regular aspirin intake reduces the risk of developing certain types of cancer.

A group of scientists from the Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University decided to find out if the latter statement applies to skin cancer. The results of the researchers' work are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. As part of the study, scientists combined data from almost 200 thousand patients aged 18 to 89 years who had melanoma. The patients were divided into two large groups: members of the first group regularly took aspirin before they were diagnosed with a dangerous tumor, members of the second group did not.

The results of the analysis were unexpected. Aspirin not only did not protect against melanoma, on the contrary, taking it almost doubled the risk of the disease, but only in men. No such pattern was found among women.

Why only men? The design of the study was constructed in such a way that it was impossible to give an answer to the question about the causal relationships of the correlation found. "We really don't know for sure why we saw an increase in risk among men, but not among women," says study author Beatrice Nardone, associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University. Her assumptions? It is possible that certain enzymes that protect cells from dangerous oxidative stress are present in smaller quantities in men.

The lifestyle can also influence, the expert continues. The difference can be explained very simply – for example, the lack of skill in men to use sunscreen.

However, all of the above does not mean that you should immediately abandon the aspirin prescribed by your doctor.

"It is important not to make radical conclusions in the absence of more detailed studies, especially since there are examples of publications with conflicting results in the literature," says Lilly–Rose Paraskevas, a dermatologist from New York. "I would not recommend stopping taking aspirin prescribed to protect the cardiovascular system based on this study."

According to experts, the results of the new work should help raise people's awareness of the possible link between aspirin and melanoma – the specific details should in any case be discussed with the attending physician.

It is important that aspirin is not the only drug that increases the risk of skin cancer. Some drugs used in transplantology, as well as medications for high blood pressure, are associated with an increase in the likelihood of developing oncodermatological disease. And this means that your dermatologist should know about all the drugs that you take, prescription and over-the-counter.

Regular visits to a dermatologist are the main way to fight melanoma. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that in patients under the supervision of a specialist, melanomas are more often detected at early stages – which means that the prognosis of the disease in such patients is much better on average.

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