Low dose aspirin use associated with pancreatic cancer risk reduction
June 27 2014. A study described online on June 26, 2014 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention uncovered an association between long term use of low dose aspirin and a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer.
Utilizing data from 362 men and women with pancreatic cancer matched to 690 control subjects enrolled in the Connecticut Pancreas Cancer Case-Control Study, researchers at Yale University determined that regular use of aspirin was associated with a 48% lower risk of cancer of the pancreas in comparison with non-use. Each increasing year of regular aspirin use was associated with a 2% lower risk of the disease and each year of low dose use with a 6% lower risk.
"We found that the use of low dose aspirin was associated with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half, with some evidence that the longer low dose aspirin was used, the lower the risk," reported lead researcher Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, who is professor of epidemiology in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. "Because about one in 60 adults will get pancreatic cancer and the five-year survival rate is less than 5 percent, it is crucial to find ways to prevent this disease."
"Older studies of aspirin use have been clouded by the use of [regular- or high-dose] aspirin for pain relief from conditions that themselves might be related to the risk for pancreatic cancer,” he noted. “Only recently have people been using low-dose aspirin for long enough times that the use might bear on risk of pancreatic cancer development."
"There seems to be enough evidence that people who are considering aspirin use to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease can feel positive that their use might also lower their risk for pancreatic cancer, and quite certainly wouldn't raise it," he added.
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2014_06.htm#Low-dose-aspirin-use-associated-with-pancreatic-cancer-risk-reduction