Women who take aspirin may have a reduced risk of developing the most deadly type of skin cancer, a new study suggests.

Some 5,500 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in Ireland every year. Melanoma accounts for around 5% of these cases. While rare, this type of skin cancer has a very high mortality rate if not detected early.

US scientists followed the progress of almost 60,000 women aged between 50 and 79 for an average of 12 years. At the start of the study, the women were asked about their diet, medication intake and activity levels.

The study found that those who took more aspirin were less likely to develop melanoma during the follow-up period. In fact overall, they had a 21% reduced risk in comparison to women who did not use aspirin.

The scientists also noted that each incremental increase in duration of the drug's use was associated with an 11% reduced risk. The increments were less than one year, one to four years and five years or more.

In other words, women who used aspirin for five years or more had a 30% reduced risk of developing melanoma compared to women who did not use the drug.

The results stood irrespective of other factors such as tanning practices and the use of sunscreen.

"Aspirin works by reducing inflammation and this may be why using aspirin may lower your risk of developing melanoma," explained lead scientist, Dr Jean Tang, of Stanford University School of Medicine.

She noted that other pain medications did not reduce the risk and called for the development of a clinical trial aimed directly at testing whether aspirin can prevent melanoma.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Cancer.