Aspirin May Lower PSA

Ivanhoe Newswire

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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Using aspirin or any other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) can help cure a headache and prevent a heart attack, and now new research shows it may also lower PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tenn., found that using NSAIDs is significantly associated with lower PSA levels, especially in men with prostate cancer.

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In a large analysis known as the Nashville Mens Health Study, 1,277 participants were referred to a urologist for a biopsy of their prostate. About 46 percent of the men in the study reported taking an NSAID, mostly aspirin. After adjusting for age, race, family history, obesity and other variables, the researchers found that the men who took aspirin had nine percent lower PSA levels than men who did not take aspirin.

High PSA levels suggest a greater risk of developing prostate cancer and can also signify benign prostatic hyperplasia, a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate.

Although decreased PSA levels could have a protective effect, there is an aspect to this finding that could potentially be concerning. This analysis raises the concern that aspirin and other NSAIDs may lower PSA levels below the level of clinical suspicion without having any effect on prostate cancer development, and if that is true, use of these agents could be hampering our ability to detect early-stage prostate cancer through PSA screening, said the studys lead investigator Jay H. Fowke, Ph.D., an assistant professor in medicine at Vanderbilt, was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Researchs Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Washington D.C., November 16-19, 2008

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