Aspirin may cut the risk of pancreatic cancer
April 5th, 2011 - 12:20 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Apr 5 (ANI): Taking aspirin at least once per month is linked to a significant decrease in pancreatic cancer risk, according to a new study.
Xiang-Lin Tan, a research fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said the findings from this large collaborative study are preliminary and do not encourage widespread use of aspirin for this purpose.
“The results are not meant to suggest everyone should start taking aspirin once monthly to reduce their risk of pancreatic cancer,” said Tan.
“Individuals should discuss use of aspirin with their physicians because the drug carries some side effects.”
For the current study, Tan and colleagues enrolled 904 patients who had documented pancreatic cancer and compared them with 1,224 healthy patients. All patients were at least 55 years old and reported their use of aspirin, NSAIDs and acetaminophen by questionnaire.
Results showed that people who took aspirin at least one day during a month had a 26 percent decreased risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who did not take aspirin regularly. The effect was also found for those who took low-dose aspirin for heart disease prevention at 35 percent lower risk, according to Tan.
The researchers did not see a benefit from non-aspirin NSAIDs or acetaminophen.
“This provides additional evidence that aspirin may have chemoprevention activity against pancreatic cancer,” said Tan.
He added that more data must be gathered before we can prove a real benefit.
The study has been presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6. (ANI)
- Ibuprofen may reduce risk of Parkinson's disease - Mar 03, 2011
- Daily aspirin cuts bowel cancer death risk - Apr 26, 2012
- An aspirin a day 'cuts cancer death rate by 50pc' - Dec 07, 2010
- New aspirin curbs 11 kinds of cancer, shrinks tumours - Mar 09, 2012
- Study examines aspirin's ability to protect against colorectal cancer - Mar 10, 2011
- Aspirin reduces risk of cancer recurrence in prostate cancer patients - May 03, 2011
- Aspirin cuts cancer risk - Mar 21, 2012
- Taking ibuprofen regularly cuts Parkinson's disease risk - Feb 18, 2010
- Avoiding or controlling diabetes may cut cancer risk, mortality - Apr 04, 2011
- Aspirin 'cuts bowel cancer risk' - Sep 16, 2010
- Painkillers shoot up death risk in heart attacks - May 10, 2011
- Celebrex shows potential in preventing some skin cancers - Dec 01, 2010
- Eating strawberries may help prevent esophageal cancer - Apr 07, 2011
- Taking aspirin for heart disease prevention is less costly, more effective - Feb 23, 2011
- 'Aspirin resistance' behind lack of clinical aspirin benefit on heart attacks - May 05, 2010
Tags: aacr, acetaminophen, annual meeting, benefit from, cancer risk, collaborative study, colleagues, heart disease, heart disease prevention, low dose aspirin, mayo clinic, nsaids, pancreatic cancer, physicians, questionnaire results, research fellow, rochester minn