MedWire News: A common class of painkillers called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which includes aspirin and ibuprofen, may lower men's levels of a blood marker that is used to screen for prostate cancer, research suggests.

Blood levels of a protein called prostate-specific antigen are used to assess a man's risk of developing prostate cancer - the higher the level of prostate-specific antigen, the greater the risk of the disease.

Dr Edwin van Wijngaarden, from University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York, USA, and team explain that some studies have suggested that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use is associated with a lower incidence of prostate cancer.

But they add that little is known about the effects of these drugs on prostate-specific antigen levels.

To investigate, the team assessed data on 1319 men, aged over 40 years, who participated in a national health study. All the men provided information on their use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and their blood levels of prostate-specific antigen were measured.

After accounting for factors such as age, race, educational level, smoking status, body mass index, co-existing inflammatory conditions and heart disease, the researchers found that prostate-specific antigen levels were around 10% lower in men who regularly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs than in those who did not.

"The findings of the current study suggest that regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption may reduce serum prostate-specific antigen levels," Dr van Wijngaarden and colleagues write in the journal Cancer.

But they add: "Whether this is indicative of a protective effect on prostate cancer risk or masks possible prostate injury resulting in reduced detection of prostate cancer is unclear.

"Given the widespread consumption of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the regular use of prostate-specific antigen for the assessment of prostate cancer risk, the potential implications of the current study's findings may be substantial and warrant further investigation.