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Health News Archive 84 - Aspirin
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Long-term Aspirin Users Risk Breast
Cancer
Women who take ibuprofen or aspirin daily for several years might face a
higher risk of certain breast cancers, according to preventive medicine
researchers in the Keck School of Medicine at USC.
Published in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, study findings indicate that women using ibuprofen every day
for five years or longer were more than 50 percent more likely than
non-users to be diagnosed with breast cancer, while women using
aspirin every day for five years or longer were more than 81 percent more
likely than non-users to be diagnosed with a certain type of breast cancer.
Dr Marshall and her colleagues analyzed data on 114,460 women
participating in the California Teachers Study, an expansive examination
of cancer among female teachers that is led by researchers at the Keck
School and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
All participants were cancer-free when they joined the study in 1995 or
1996. The researchers asked women about their use of NSAIDs, among many
other lifestyle factors. They also asked about women’s use of an
alternative analgesic, acetaminophen.
Between 1995 and 2001, 2,391 of the participating women were diagnosed
with breast cancer. Researchers looked for any relationships between the
use of pain medication and breast cancer risk in participating women.
Long-term daily aspirin users, meanwhile, were at higher risk of a type of
breast cancer termed estrogen-receptor- or progesterone-receptor-negative
breast cancer. The researchers saw no link between acetaminophen use and
breast cancer risk.
The researchers did not ask about the dose of the medications women had
used. Nor did they ask about other NSAIDs such as naproxen, celecoxib (Celebrex)
or rofecoxib (Vioxx), since such medications were not widely available at
the time. They plan to ask about additional NSAID use in a follow-up
questionnaire.
NSAIDs suppress the expression of the cyclooxygenase 2, or COX-2, gene,
researchers said. The COX-2 gene kicks into gear in wounded or inflamed
tissue, so suppressing the gene’s expression (through NSAIDs) can lower
inflammation and associated pain.
Elevated COX-2 levels also are associated with increased formation of
blood vessels, increased production of estrogen and reduced apoptosis
(cell death), all of which might stimulate cancer growth.
The study has been supported by the
California Breast Cancer Act of 1993 (tobacco tax), the California
Department of Health Services and the National Cancer Institute.
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