Aspirin may cut risk of breast cancer recurrence

By Lara Salahi

Regular use of anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen may lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence in some overweight women, a new study found.

Researchers at the University of Texas took blood from 440 women who were diagnosed with invasive, estrogen receptor alpha-positive breast cancer. Nearly 26 percent of the women were overweight and 58 percent were obese. They re-created cancer cells, fat cells, and immune cells in the lab and injected the blood into these cells. Blood samples that were taken from overweight or obese women caused the cancer cells to grow faster than blood taken from women who were not overweight. Blood from the obese patients contained more fatty acids, which caused inflammation and promoted tumor growth, the study found.

The researchers then looked at the patients’ medical records and divided them between those who regularly took anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen — known as NSAIDs — and those who did not. Women with a body mass index greater than 30 who took NSAIDs reduced their rate of recurrence by 50 percent and were disease-free for more than two years longer than women who didn’t take the pills.

The findings suggest that taking NSAIDs could help reduce inflammation in tumor cells, especially among overweight or obese breast patients, the researchers wrote.

BOTTOM LINE: Regular use of anti-inflammatory drugs may lower the risk for breast cancer recurrence among some women.

CAUTIONS: The study cannot determine which overweight women will benefit from taking NSAIDs.