Search is Powered by Google
Breast Cancer News

Risk Of Common Type Of Breast Cancer May Be Reduced By Daily Aspirin

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics;  Seniors / Aging;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 01 May 2008 - 4:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:4 stars

4 (1 votes)

Health Professional:2 and a half stars

2.5 (2 votes)

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Taking aspirin on a daily basis may lower women's risk of a particular type of breast cancer, according to results published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research. In this large study, aspirin use was linked to a small reduction in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. However, unlike in some previous research, aspirin and related painkillers were not found to reduce the total risk of breast cancer.

Around 75% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), which means the cancer cells have receptors for the female hormone estrogen on their surface. Estrogen helps the cancer cells grow, so drugs that block the action of estrogen are often used to treat ER+ cancer.

It is feasible, in theory, that aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could lower the total risk of breast cancer. They block an enzyme called cyclooxygenase, an activity that could disrupt breast cancer development in a number of ways - for example, by reducing the amount of estrogen produced in the body.

A US research team, led by Gretchen Gierach, studied over 127,000 women enrolled in the National Institutes of Health - AARP Diet and Health Study, which was designed to explore the possible links between diet, health-related behaviours and cancer in older people in the USA. For the current research, the participants were women aged 51-72 with no history of cancer.

Unlike other NSAIDs, aspirin has irreversible effects on cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, so the study authors looked for differences in cancer development according to whether women used aspirin or another kind of NSAID.

NSAID use was not linked to total risk of breast cancer in this study. However, when the team considered different cancer subtypes and specific types of NSAIDs, they found that daily aspirin use was associated with a small reduction (16%) in the risk of ER+ breast cancer. A similar link was not seen in cases of ER- breast cancer.

Gierach concludes: "In summary, our results do not support an important influence of NSAIDs on total breast cancer risk. Daily aspirin use, however, appeared to offer some protection for ER+ breast cancer in this population … Our results provide support for further evaluating relationships in prospective studies with well-defined measures of NSAID use by NSAID type … and by ER status."

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

1. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and breast cancer risk in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study
Gretchen L Gierach, James V Lacey Jr, Arthur Schatzkin, Michael F Leitzmann, Douglas Richesson, Albert R Hollenbeck and Louise A Brinton
Breast Cancer Research (in press)
Article available at the journal website: http://breast-cancer-research.com/
All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

2. AARP was formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons

3. Breast Cancer Research is a high quality international, peer-reviewed journal. Breast Cancer Research publishes original research, reviews and commentaries in all areas of biology and medicine relevant to breast cancer, including normal mammary gland biology, with special emphasis on the genetic, biochemical, and cellular basis of breast cancer. All research articles published in the journal are open access; commentaries, reviews and reports over two years old are free to access, prior to this they require a subscription. The journal is edited by Dr Lewis Chodosh (USA) and has an Impact Factor of 4.16.

4. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.

Source: Charlotte Webber
BioMed Central


Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Opioid Induced Constipation ADHD Anxiety Asthma Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles All 'How To...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
Understanding And Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
07 Jan 2009
Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer that is clinically negative for expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) and HER2 protein. It is characterized by its unique molecular profile...


Treating HER2+ Breast Cancer image Treating HER2+ Breast Cancer

There are at least four different kinds of breast cancer and each is treated differently. For HER2+ breast cancer, a chemotherapy drug is typically the best option. Here's an overview of the drugs used to treat breast cancer...

Breast Cancer Treatment: Get Involved image Breast Cancer Treatment: Get Involved

Today, breast cancer patients may be treated by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, consisting of nurses, oncologists, surgeons, social workers, nutritionists and genetic counselors. However, patients, too, have a critical role in their treatment...

View more videos...