Can NSAIDs Help Prevent Cancer?

A daily dose of aspirin appears to cut the risk of a common type of cancer

A new study finds that people who took 75 to 150 milligrams of aspirin every day for at least five years were 27% less likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer than people who didn’t. (A tablet of regular Bayer aspirin, for instance, contains 325 mg of aspirin. The low-dose version designed to reduce the risk of a recurrent heart attack of stroke contain 81 mg of aspirin.)

Other types of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, appeared to reduce the risk even more. People who took non-aspirin NSAIDs for at least five years were 30% to 45% less likely to have colorectal cancer than those who didn’t take the painkillers. Ibuprofen (the active ingredient in Advil and Motrin, among others) and naproxen (the active ingredient in Aleve) are two examples of this type of NSAIDs. 

My bold. The part about other NSAIDs is new to me at least, and good news, since I take naproxen regularly for mild arthritis.

It appears that  inflammation is an important cause of cancer, and that things that prevent inflammation can often prevent cancer.