Any type of analgesic use pre-diagnosis, and post-diagnosis use of paracetamol, were not positively associated with ovarian cancer-specific survival
In analyses of change in analgesic use from pre-diagnosis to post-diagnosis, those participants who became recent users of aspirin (HR 0·44 [95% CI 0·26–0·74]) or became recent users of non-aspirin NSAIDs (HR 0·46 [95% CI 0·29–0·73]) post-diagnosis had a lower risk of ovarian cancer-specific death than never-users.
A related commentary discusses this research. It asks whether women with ovarian cancer should be advised to take aspirin? The current data show promise but do not yet give a clear answer, and use of aspirin or other NSAIDs is not without risks. Additionally, if these medications do improve survival, further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of this effect; does the benefit vary depending on the molecular characteristics of the cancer, on the dose (eg, standard vs low-dose aspirin), or on the timing of use (eg, during vs after chemotherapy)? Definitive answers might come only from randomised trials. In the meantime, further prospective observational studies that can provide reassurance regarding the comparability of analgesic users and non-users might resolve some of the uncertainty.