Taking aspirin regularly after a cancer may reduce the chance of dying or having a relapse of the disease, said Dr. Michelle Holmes of Harvard Medical School, who led the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
This conclusion was reached after a study of more than 4 000 women, those taking aspirin, which is often prescribed to prevent heart attack, had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer and the tumor expand.
“This is the first study found that aspirin can significantly reduce the risk of spread of cancer death in women who were treated at an early stage breast cancer . If these results are confirmed in other clinical trials , aspirin could be another tool simple, inexpensive and relatively safe for women with breast cancer live longer and healthier lives, “Holmes said in a statement.
Other drugs in the same class as aspirin also helped reduce the risks. These medications, called nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, including ibuprofen, naproxen, but not acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol. However, there were insufficient data on these drugs to get a clear answer.
Investigators said they are unsure of how aspirin and other NSAIDs can affect tumors but could be down the inflammation. Other studies have shown that aspirin and ibuprofen can reduce the risk of colon cancer, for example.
Aspirin has relatively benign side effects compared with chemotherapy drugs for cancer and may also prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Holmes’s team stressed that patients should not take aspirin while undergoing radiation or chemotherapy because the risk of side effects occur. In addition, aspirin can cause stomach bleeding, so it should not be taken without medical supervision.
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