Women who often use the common painkiller, aspirin, may have a reduced risk of developing a particularly aggressive type of ovarian cancer, a new study shows.

Cancer of the ovaries is often referred to as a silent disease because symptoms often do not become apparent until the disease is already relatively advanced. For this reason, it has a high mortality rate.

"Understanding what factors are involved in the development of this disease and investigating preventative interventions for women are vitally important. Our study examined the role of analgesics (painkillers) in development of ovarian cancer," explained lead researcher, Dr Susanne Kjær, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center.

The study involved an analysis of information provided by more than 750 women with different types of ovarian cancer. This was compared with information provided by over 1,500 women who did not have the disease.

All were asked about their use of painkillers.

The study found that women who regularly used aspirin had a lower risk of developing serous ovarian cancer, an aggressive type of the disease that affects the surface of the ovaries.

The same link was not found with other commonly used painkillers, such as paracetamol.

"Our findings suggest a potential protective effect of analgesic use on ovarian cancer risk, but that benefit should be balanced against adverse effects of pain medication use, such as risk of bleeding and peptic ulcers," the researchers said.

They added that larger studies are needed to back up their findings.

Details of these findings are published in the Scandinavian medical journal, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica.