Tylenol Linked to Renal Cancers

Researchers led by Dr. Eunyoung Cho of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, analyzed data from 20 studies that included 8,420 cases of kidney cancer. The studies included 14 with acetaminophen, 13 with aspirin, and five with other NSAIDs. In pooled analyses, use of acetaminophen and non-aspirin NSAIDs was associated with a 28% and 25% increased risk of kidney cancer, respectively, compared with non-use, the investigators reported online ahead of print in the International Journal of Cancer. The researchers found no overall increased risk with regular aspirin.[1]

Previously, in a prospective study of 77,525 women participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and the 49,403 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, Dr. Cho and colleagues reported finding that regular use of non-aspirin NSAIDs was associated with a 51% increased relative risk of renal cell carcinoma in a pooled analysis compared with non-regular use, according to a report in Annals of Internal Medicine (2011;171:1487-1493).

Tylenol is a exceptionally nasty pharmaceutical poison. Johnson & Johnson reduced the maximum daily dose of its Extra Strength Tylenol pain reliever to lower risk of accidental overdose from acetaminophen. Excessive use of acetaminophen can cause liver damage. In the U.S. it is blamed for about 200 fatal overdoses; and sends 56,000 people to the emergency room each year.

[1] Kidney Cancer Linked to Acetaminophen, Nonaspirin NSAIDs; Renal & Urology News; February, 2013; http://www.renalandurologynews.com/kidney-cancer-linked-to-acetaminophen-nonaspirin-nsaids/article/281054/