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Aspirin use linked to reduced risk of metastasis and death in breast cancer

Category: Breast

Women who have completed treatment for early stage breast cancer and who regularly take aspirin may reduce their risk of cancer recurrence and metastasis, according to a recent study.

Michelle Holmes, study author and associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School, and her colleagues evaluated data from the Nurses' Health Study, which included more than 4,000 female nurses who were diagnosed with breast cancer over a 25-year period. They examined each patient's use of aspirin for one or more years after completing treatment, such as surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

The researchers found that women who took aspirin two to five days per week had a 71 percent lower risk of breast cancer death and a 60 percent reduced risk of metastasis. The risk of metastasis and mortality did not differ between patients who took aspirin once a week and those who took no aspirin.

"If these findings are confirmed in other clinical trials, taking aspirin may become another simple, low-cost and relatively safe tool to help women with breast cancer live longer, healthier lives," concluded Holmes.