Association between non-aspirin NSAID use and risk or renal cancer

January 01, 0001

Association between non-aspirin NSAID use and risk or renal cancer

These US authors investigated the association between analgesic use and renal cell cancer (RCC) in 2 large prospective cohort studies, the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Use of aspirin, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen was ascertained in 1990 in the Nurses' Health Study and in 1986 in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and every 2 years thereafter. They also evaluated baseline and duration of use of analgesics.

They found: "During follow-up of 16 years among 77,525 women and 20 years among 49,403 men, we documented 333 RCC cases. Aspirin and acetaminophen use were not associated with RCC risk. However, regular use of nonaspirin NSAIDs was associated with an increased RCC risk; the pooled multivariate relative risk was 1.51 at baseline. The absolute risk differences for users vs nonusers of nonaspirin NSAIDs were 9.15 per 100,000 person-years in women and 10.92 per 100,000 person-years in men. There was a dose-response relationship between duration of nonaspirin NSAID use and RCC risk; compared with nonregular use, the pooled multivariate relative risks were 0.81 for use less than 4 years, 1.36 for 4 to less than 10 years, and 2.92 for use for 10 or more years."

The authors concluded: "Our prospective data suggest that longer duration of use of nonaspirin NSAIDs may increase the risk of RCC."

The dose response relationship strengthens the argument for a causal relationship, but the absolute risk is still small.

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Intern Med 171(16):1487-1493, 12 September 2011 © 2011 to the American Medical Association
Prospective Evaluation of Analgesic Use and Risk of Renal Cell Cancer. Eunyoung Cho, Gary Curhan, Susan E. Hankinson, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Eunyoung: [email protected]

Category: U. Urinary. Keywords: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, aspirin, acetaminophen, renal cell cancer, risk, prospective cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 27 September 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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