A study has shown that middle aged men, who took a daily dose of aspirin or other "non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug" (NSAID), have better test results for prostrate cancer. PSA, or prostate specific antigen, is a blood marker used to monitor the progress of prostate cancer and taking the pill significantly reduced the PSA levels which suggested that the body was fighting the disease.

Dr. Jay H. Fowke from Vanderbilt University in Nashville presented data on the study at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The study called the Nashville Men's health study focused on data collected from 1,277 men all older than 40 years who were recommended a biopsy of the prostate. 46 % of these men reported taking a NSAID, with 37 % being primarily aspirin. The researchers found PSA levels were 9 % lower in the men taking aspirin as compared to those who did not.

Prostrate cancer is diagnosed by the help of a PSA test and higher PSA levels are linked to higher chances of prostrate cancer. The researchers feel aspirin may interfere with the ability to detect early stage prostrate cancer by lowering the PSA levels and thereby hamper early detection and early treatment.

"These results may suggest that aspirin use decreases the ability to detect prostate cancer and may contribute to prior investigations reporting a protective association between NSAID use and prostate cancer risk," Fowke and colleagues wrote.

The researchers said more research is needed to establish if NSAID use affects the prostrate cancer risk or simply the ability to detect the disease among NSAID users.