RE: aspirin to reduce the risk of breast cancer?

[Guest guest]

You can see more details at:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/05/25/

aspirin.breast.cancer.ap/index.html

I heard it on NPR during my commute home this evening and their take

was somewhat different that the CNN article. What they said was that

drugs with COX inhibitors (such as aspirin, Celebrex, Vioxx) seemed to

be the connection. They didn't say everyone should rush right out and

start taking aspirin but evidentally women who did already were showing

the best results (although only for the most common type of breast

cancer). But they cautioned it could be a false correlation because

breast cancer has all sorts of complicating factors.

Don

On Tuesday, May 25, 2004, at 06:43 PM, Francesca Skelton wrote:

> As I'm watching tonite's evening news (ABC World News Tonight) there's

> going

> to be a piece on aspirin reducing the risk of breast cancer. Is there

> a new

> study out?

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>As I'm watching tonite's evening news (ABC World News Tonight) there's going

to be a piece on aspirin reducing the risk of breast cancer. Is there a new

study out?

Association of Frequency and Duration of Aspirin Use and Hormone Receptor Status

With Breast Cancer Risk

Beth Terry, PhD; Marilie D. Gammon, PhD; Fang Fang Zhang, MD, MPH; Heba

Tawfik, MD, MPH; L. Teitelbaum, PhD; A. Britton, PhD; Kotha

Subbaramaiah, PhD; J. Dannenberg, MD; Alfred I. Neugut, MD, PhD

JAMA. 2004;291:2433-2440.

Context Use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

has been associated with a decrease in the risk of several cancers, including

breast cancer. NSAIDs inhibit cyclooxygenase activity and thereby reduce

prostaglandin synthesis; prostaglandins stimulate aromatase gene expression and

thereby stimulate estrogen biosynthesis. Given the importance of estrogen in the

pathogenesis of breast cancer, the ability of aspirin and other NSAIDs to

protect against breast cancer could vary according to hormone receptor status.

Objectives To determine the association between the frequency and duration of

use of aspirin and other NSAIDs and breast cancer risk and to investigate

whether any observed association is more pronounced for women with hormone

receptor–positive breast cancers.

Design, Setting, and Patients Population-based case-control study of women with

breast cancer, including in-person interviews conducted on Long Island, NY,

during 1996-1997 (1442 cases and 1420 controls).

Main Outcome Measure Incident invasive and in situ breast cancer by aspirin and

NSAID use and hormone receptor status.

Results Ever use of aspirin or other NSAIDs at least once per week for 6 months

or longer was reported in 301 cases (20.9%) and 345 controls (24.3%) (odds ratio

[OR], 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-0.97 for ever vs nonusers). The

inverse association was most pronounced among frequent users (>=7 tablets per

week) (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58-0.90). The results for ibuprofen, which was used

by fewer women on a regular basis, were generally weaker (OR, 0.78; 95% CI,

0.55-1.10 for <3 times per week vs OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.70-1.22 for >=3 times per

week). Use of acetaminophen, an analgesic that does not inhibit prostaglandin

synthesis, was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of breast

cancer. The reduction in risk with aspirin use was seen among those with hormone

receptor–positive tumors (OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60-0.93) but not for women with

hormone receptor–negative tumors (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.67-1.40).

Conclusion These data add to the growing evidence that supports the regular use

of aspirin and other NSAIDs (which may operate through inhibition of estrogen

biosynthesis) as effective chemopreventive agents for breast cancer.