Breast
A large study of U.S. nurses showed 50 percent lower risk cancer would spread
Breast cancer survivors who take aspirin regularly may be less likely to die or have their cancer return, U.S. researchers reported.
The tests studied the data fron over 4,000 nurses and results showed that those who took aspirin - usually to prevent heart disease - had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer and a 50 percent lower risk that the cancer would spread.
The team led by Dr Michelle Holmes of th Harvard Medical School found that aspirin significantly reduced the risk of cancer spread and death for women who have been treated for early stage breast cancer, reports the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
"If these findings are confirmed in other clinical trials, taking aspirin may become another simple, low-cost and relatively safe tool to help women with breast cancer live longer, healthier lives," Holmes added in a statement.
The team studied 4,164 female registered nurses taking part in the Nurses' Health Study, an ongoing analysis of a wide range of health issues starting in 1976, looking at who took aspirin, watching for breast cancer and all causes of death until 2006.
During the preiod concerned, 341 of the nurses died of breast cancer.
Women who took aspirin two to five days a week had a 60 percent reduced risk of their cancer spreading and a 71 percent lower risk of breast cancer death. Six to seven aspirins a week lowered the risk of spread by 43 percent and the risk of breast cancer death by 64 percent.
Most of the women were taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks and stroke, they also found that Ibuprofen and naproxen appear to lower risk too though not acetaminophen, marketed as paracetamol.The report indicated that insufficient data on the other drugs failed to give a conclusive finding.
The researchers said they are not sure how aspirin and other NSAIDS affected tumors but it could be by lowering inflammation. Other studies have shown that aspirin and ibuprofen can lower colon cancer risk.
Aspirin has relatively benign adverse effects compared with cancer chemotherapeutic drugs and may also prevent colon cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke," the researchers wrote. It affected both estrogen-positive tumors as well as none hormone induced cancers.
Aspirin can cause stomach bleeding so it should not be taken without a doctor's supervision.
Tagged in Breast Cancer