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Low-dose aspirin may reduce risk for lung cancer

Patients who took low-dose aspirin for more than 5 years had a modestly lower risk for lung cancer, according to findings recently published in JAMA Network Open.

“According to the results of two meta-analyses, despite significant findings on aspirin use and lung cancer risk among case-control studies, the chemopreventive effects of aspirin on lung cancer risk in cohort studies were controversial. A pooled analysis of randomized trials with long-term follow-up showed that daily aspirin use reduced death due to lung cancer,” Shinheeye Ye, MD, PhD, of the department of internal medicine at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea and colleagues wrote.

“Thus, the association between low-dose aspirin use and the risk reduction of lung cancer, the appropriate duration of aspirin use for chemoprevention, and the specific subgroups expected to benefit more from low-dose aspirin use are still inconclusive,” they added.

Researchers reviewed data from almost 13 million people aged 40 to 84 years who had undergone national health screening between 2009 and 2010. They calculated low-dose aspirin use for the participants between January 2002 to December 2010.

Of the participants, 63,040 (mean age, 66.4 years; 71.6% men) received a lung cancer diagnosis.

Ye and colleagues found that 5 to 6 years of aspirin use (adjusted HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99), 7 to 8 years of aspirin use (aHR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.9-0.99), and 9 years of aspirin use (aHR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.84-0.94) of aspirin use were significantly associated with reduced lung cancer risk vs. those who with no aspirin use. In addition, stratified analysis showed the lower risk was particularly pronounced in patients older than 65 years and those who did not have diabetes.

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.