Today

Common drugs such as aspirin may help prevent skin cancer and sunspots, say researchers.

A team from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) conducted a survey on 1,000 residents in the south-east Queensland town, and found that people who'd taken aspirin regularly had a lower rate of some types of skin cancer.

Lead researcher Dr David Whiteman says that aspirin blocks a specific enzyme known as cyclo-oxygenase (COX) which is important for some types of skin cancer development.

"We found that people who regularly used aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had significantly lower risks of developing skin cancer than people who did not use them," said Dr Whiteman.

"Moreover, we found that among people who had never had skin cancer, those who regularly used aspirin had significantly lower numbers of sunspots.

"Aspirin blocks the Cox enzyme and it just so happens that these enzymes are involved in inflammation... And these enzymes are also used by cancer cells to stimulate blood cells."

The findings are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Australia and the most expensive to treat, with one Australian being diagnosed for skin cancer every 90 seconds and more than $200 million spent annually on treatments.