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Long-term aspirin use may increase risk of pancreatic cancer
Source: (cancerfacts.com)
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
BOSTON – Jan. 7, 2004 – Regular aspirin use for 20 years or more may be associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in women, say researchers analyzing data from a long-standing study.
Many studies have found that use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with a reduced risk of several cancers and precancerous lesions. Past studies in human pancreatic cells and in laboratory animals have also suggested that aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may inhibit the development of pancreatic cancer.
This new study led by Dr. Eva S. Schernhammer, of the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, however, is one of the few to examine the association between actual analgesic use and pancreatic cancer in humans. The study findings appear in the Jan. 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
"Our findings do not support a protective effect of analgesics use on the risk of pancreatic cancer," Schernhammer said in a prepared statement. "Rather, aspirin appears to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer after extended periods of use. "
The researchers examined the aspirin use and incidence of pancreatic cancer among 88,378 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, one of the nation's longest and largest ongoing population studies. The information used in the study was based on questions about aspirin use asked on questionnaires sent to study participants every other year beginning in 1980.
Among those women in the study, 34 percent were current regular aspirin users, defined as women who took two or more 325 mg aspirin tablets per week. The remaining women were non-regular aspirin users who took less than 2 tablets per week.
During 18 years of follow-up, there were 161 new cases of pancreatic cancer. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in risk of pancreatic cancer between aspirin users and nonusers.
When the investigators examined the information based on the duration that the women had been taking aspirin, however, they found that women who reported more than 20 years of regular aspirin use had a 58 percent increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with women who never regularly consumed more than two aspirin tablets per week.
When the investigators compared women who had reported consistent, regular aspirin use with women who were non-users during the same time period, they found that the risk of pancreatic cancer increased with increasing aspirin dose. Compared with nonusers, women who took 14 or more aspirin tablets per week had an 86 percent greater risk of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and is one of the least curable, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed surviving more than 5 years, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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