Taking painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen may hide your prostate cancer from the screening.

United States researchers found out that the above-mentioned painkillers actually lower the levels of a protein in a men’s blood which leads to difficulties when screening for prostate cancer. However, researchers aren’t sure yet whether the discovery also means that the painkillers are also lowering the risk of developing that type of cancer.

"This raises questions that will have to be answered in a larger clinical trial," said Dr. Eric A. Singer, chief resident in urology at the University of Rochester, NY.

Researchers used data on 1,319 men aged 40 and older and the findings indicated that the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) dropped about 10% in those who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) compared to those who took no painkillers. Lower levels of PSA (a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland) are confusing in prostate cancer screening. The findings of the research were published in the Sept. 8 issue of the American Cancer Society’s journal “Cancer.”

"We should not take aspirin or NSAIDs as protection against prostate cancer,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

The men in whom researchers observed a lower level of PSA took the NSAIDs almost every day. Many men are having their blood tested and screened annually for prostate cancer.

Nearly 780,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, which makes this kind of cancer the second most commonly diagnosed in the world and the sixth mostly deadly form of cancer in men.