Ban on widely used painkiller significantly reduced incidence of renal pelvis cancer

A new scientific study, conducted jointly by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the New South Wales Cancer Council, evaluates for the first time the long-term impact of the phenacetin ban on upper urinary tract cancer rates. Published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, the study shows a significant reduction in renal pelvis cancer incidence rates in Australia after phenacetin was banned in 1979, especially among women. Phenacetin, a widely used analgesic, was banned in most countries from the late 1960s because it causes renal diseases and cancers of the upper urinary tract.

S. Antoni, I. Soerjomataram, S. Moore, J. Ferlay, F. Sitas, D. P. Smith, D. Forman
The ban on phenacetin is associated with changes in the incidence trends of upper urinary tract cancers in Australia.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, DOI: 10.1111/1753-6405.12252. Published online 28 August 2014
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