Aspirin may be friend in reducing breast cancer
Kathmandu, December 25
Aspirin is a common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and many studies have suggested that women who take aspirin may have a lower risk of breast cancer.
Actually, aspirin are taken to treat headaches, as well as mild cold and flu symptoms in most of the cases. However, researches showed that the NSAID could also be beneficial for preventing blood clots from forming and thus reducing stroke risk.
As per the Medical News Today, studies previously have also suggested that aspirin might help in reducing the risk of breast cancer by up to 20 percent, and even that it may help treat already diagnosed cancer, including breast cancer.
Meanwhile, recent researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health claimed that "the underlying biological mechanisms and epidemiological findings on aspirin use in relation to prognosis and mortality after [breast cancer] are limited and inconsistent."
"Chronic inflammation is a key player in the development of multiple cancer types, including breast cancer," told the recent study's first author, Tengteng Wang, Ph.D, as quoted by Medical News Today. "Aspirin is a major nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug which has anti-inflammatory properties. Substantial evidence from laboratory and population studies suggests that taking aspirin may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer," Wang said.
The researchers analyzed the data of 1,266 female participants with breast cancer who had enrolled in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study and found that women who had taken aspirin at least once per week for 6 weeks before receiving their breast cancer diagnosis and showed methylation in BRCA1 — a gene that promotes breast cancer tumors — saw an increase of 67% in all-cause mortality following treatment.
On the other hand, women who had unmethylated BRCA1 and PR genes and who had eaten aspirin in the period before their diagnosis saw a decrease in cancer-related mortality of 22–40%.
The researchers also told that the findings indicated that there is indeed a link between the methylation status of specific genes and whether or not aspirin use is likely to be linked to more or less favorable outcomes following a breast cancer diagnosis.
