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Regular aspirin use may lower risk for pancreatic cancer
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Regular use of aspirin may lower the risk for pancreatic cancer by as much as 46%, according to a population-based, case-control study conducted in China.
“We found that regular use of aspirin by a large group of people in Shanghai cut risk of pancreatic cancer almost in half,” Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology in the department of chronic disease epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine, said in a press release. “These new data are consistent with what has been seen in other populations around the world.”
Pancreatic cancer is among the most fatal of all cancer types, with fewer than 8% of patients surviving 5 or more years after diagnosis. By 2022, deaths from pancreatic cancer are expected to exceed all other cancer types except lung cancer in the United States.
Meta-analysis from 18 prior studies suggest that as the general population’s use of aspirin has increased over the past 2 decades, the association of aspirin decreasing the risk for pancreatic cancer has become more pronounced.
Risch and colleagues collected data from 761 patients with pancreatic cancer (mean age, 64.9 years; 57.2% male; 56.3% never smoked) and 794 controls (mean age, 64.9 years; 57.9% male; 57.7% never smoked) from the Shanghai Residents Registry. All were interviewed in person to determine when they started using aspirin; the number of years they used aspirin; and when, if applicable, they stopped using aspirin.
All but six of 230 aspirin ever-users took aspirin at least daily.
Regular aspirin use was reported by 11% of patients with cancer compared with 18% of controls.
After adjusting for BMI, smoking history and history of diabetes, researchers found that ever using aspirin regularly was associated with a 46% decreased risk for pancreatic cancer (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.4-0.73). Risk decreased by 8% for each year of regular aspirin use (OR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.87-0.97).
Ever regular aspirin use was associated with a lower risk for pancreatic cancer in women (OR = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.26-0.67) than in men (OR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44-0.94).
When researchers evaluated these results along with the data from the 18 other studies, the OR for ever-regular use decreased with increasingly more recent mid-point of when aspiring exposures were ascertained in the study for any aspirin type (P for trend = 10–5.1) and for low-dose aspirin (P for trend = .0014).
Risch and colleagues noted the reliability of participants’ reported use of aspirin as a limitation.
“Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare — just 1.5% of U.S. adults will be diagnosed at some point during life — and regular aspirin use can cause appreciable complications for some,” Risch said. “Therefore, a person should consult his or her doctor about aspirin use. Nevertheless, the balance of evidence shows that people who use aspirin to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease or colorectal cancer can feel positive that their use likely also lowers their risk for pancreatic cancer.” – by Chuck Gormley
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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