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Aspirin use significantly lowered melanoma risk in postmenopausal Caucasians

The use of aspirin was related to a significantly lower risk for melanoma in postmenopausal Caucasian women, according to recent study results.

“Aspirin works by reducing inflammation, and this may be why using aspirin may lower your risk of developing melanoma,” researcher Jean Y. Tang, MD, PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., said in a news release.

 

Jean Y. Tang

Researchers used the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study — designed to evaluate indicators and biomarkers for disease in postmenopausal women — to examine the use of aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) among 59,806 postmenopausal Caucasian women. The researchers said they focused on Caucasian patients because light skin pigmentation is the major risk factor for melanoma and approximately 95% of cutaneous melanoma cases occur in Caucasians.

There were 25.2% aspirin users, 15.4% nonaspirin NSAID users and 59.4% NSAID nonusers. After adjusting for skin type, sun exposure history and medical indications for NSAID use among confounders, Cox proportional hazards models were constructed.

Review confirmed 548 incident melanomas during a median follow-up of 12 years. There was a 21% reduced risk for melanoma among the women who used aspirin compared with nonusers (HR=0.79; 95% CI, 0.63-0.98). When aspirin use increased in duration, there was an 11% lower risk for melanoma for each categorical increase (less than1 year, 1-4 years and 5 years or more; P_trend=.01). There was a 30% lower melanoma risk for women who used aspirin for at least 5 years (HR=0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.94) and no association between melanoma risk and use of nonaspirin NSAIDs and acetaminophen.

“The current results indicate that postmenopausal Caucasian women who used aspirin had a significantly lower risk of melanoma, and the increased duration of use was associated with greater protection against melanoma,” the researchers concluded. “These findings suggest that aspirin may have a chemopreventive effect against the development of melanoma, and further clinical investigation is warranted.”

Disclosure: Tang is a consultant for Genentech.