Common painkillers may help reduce skin cancer risk, study shows

A new study has shown that over-the-counter painkillers may be effective in preventing skin cancer.

Danish researchers found that those who took nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers like aspirin or ibuprofen were less likely to develop certain skin cancers than others.

According to Fox News, the study focused on the three common kinds of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma – the latter being the most deadly.

"Given the high skin cancer incidence and the widespread and frequent use of NSAIDs, a preventive effect of these agents may have important public health implications," said researchers, according to ABC News.

The study looked at cancer cases from hte Danish Cancer Registry between 1991 and 2009 and compared the data to others who did not have cancer but regularly used painkillers.

Researchers looked at over 18,000 cancer cases with each case being matched with 10 controlled cases of people without cancer but with similar backgrounds and ages.

Time reported that those who regularly took painkillers had a 13 percent lower risk of melanoma and a 15 percent lower risk of sqamous cell carcinoma.

The study also found that the higher the dose of painkillers, the lower the chances of skin cancer.

Researchers said that work still needs to be done to test the connection between the drugs and skin cancer as the study needs to control for exposure to ultraviolet light.

“We were not able to determine the minimal daily or weekly doses needed,” Sigrún Alba Jóhannesdóttir of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark said to Fox News.

“However, we did find that the protective effect was greatest when used frequently and over a long time period (over 7 years). Other studies need to investigate details of minimal dose and length of treatment.”

The study was published in the journal Cancer.