That's what Stefanos Bonovas, MD, MSc, and colleagues report in July's issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Bonovas works in Greece at the pharmacology department of the University of Athens' medical school.

But the Greek researchers aren't advising women to start taking acetaminophen to prevent ovarian cancer. The possible link between acetaminophen use and reduced ovarian cancer risk "cannot yet be regarded as one which would prompt a public health recommendation," write Bonovas and colleagues.

They caution that the new findings need to be confirmed and much more information should be gathered first.

About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecological cancer, largely because doctors don't have a good screening method to detect the disease in its early, more treatable, stages, Bonovas' team notes.

The American Cancer Society reports the following statistics for ovarian cancer in the U.S.:

• 8th most common cancer in women (excluding skin cancer)
• 5th cause of cancer deaths in women
• 20,000 new cases expected in 2006
• 15,000 deaths expected in 2006
• Most patients aged 55 or older
• Slightly more common in white women than in black
• 1 in 67 lifetime risk of a woman getting ovarian cancer