Acetaminohen Tied to blood cancers

Yahoo News, Reuters Health:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110509/hl_nm/us_acetaminophen_cancer
By Frederik Joelving – Mon May 9, 5:27 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – New research shows chronic users of acetaminophen, a top-selling painkiller known as Tylenol in the U.S. and paracetamol in Europe, are at slightly increased risk for blood cancers.

Yet the risk remains low, and it's still uncertain what role the drug plays.

The finding adds another twist to the complicated evidence linking cancer and painkillers, and hints acetaminophen might be different from the rest.

Earlier work has shown that aspirin use might lower the odds of dying from colon cancer but increase the risk of bleeding ulcers. The picture has been less clear for blood, or hematologic, cancers, however.

"Prior to this study there was very little evidence that aspirin reduces your risk of hematological cancers," said Emily White of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who worked on the new research

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