An ibuprofen a day may keep lung cancer away, according to a long-term Ohio State University study presented at a medical conference in Vienna.

“Among adults with a history of past or current smoking, ibuprofen intake was associated with a substantial (48 per cent) reduction in the risk of dying from lung cancer,” said Ohio State researcher Dr Marisa Bittoni in a statement distributed by Marketwired, a NASDAQ-owned newswire. “These results suggest that regular use of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) may be beneficial for high-risk sub-groups of smokers as a lung cancer prevention strategy.”
Anti-inflammatory properties of ibuprofen help prevent tumours from forming in the lungs. Researchers spent 18 years following up on more than 10,700 participants whose lifestyle data were collected in 1988-94 in a nationwide US study on health and nutrition. Results were presented to the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer organised by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), according to the statement.