Study: Tylenol Seen Protective Against Colon Cancer in Laboratory Rats

Researchers report that even a low dose of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in the pain reliever Tylenol®, appeared to be able to prevent the early biological changes that can lead to colon cancer in laboratory rats.

The researchers, reporting at the International Symposium on Antimutagenesis and Anticarcinogenesis at New York Medical College, described their findings as part of "a building body of evidence" that acetaminophen may have a "powerful protective effect in colon cells."

"The fact that we found this protective effect even in animals exposed to much higher doses of the carcinogen than a human would ever encounter suggests that acetaminophen may have the potential to help prevent the onset of this disease in humans," said Dr. Gary M. Williams, professor of pathology at New York Medical College.

Williams said that in the study, half of the animals were pretreated with acetaminophen prior to their exposure to varying doses of 3,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl, a chemical agent linked to colon cancer. Control animals were exposed to the same doses of the cancer-causing chemical but were not pretreated at all.

"We found that cellular changes indicative of colon cancer were
either eliminated or reduced by half in animals pretreated with
acetaminophen," said Williams.

He cautioned, however, that more animal research is needed before humans can be studied in clinical trials, and advised consumers should not change how they use acetaminophen based on this study.

Other sources: New York Medical College