A study funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research shows that the longer a person took low-dose aspirin, the lower his or her risk for developing pancreatic cancer.
“We found that the use of low-dose aspirin was associated with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half, with some evidence that the longer low-dose aspirin was used, the lower the risk,” said Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut. “Because about one in 60 adults will get pancreatic cancer and the five-year survival rate is less than 5%, it is crucial to find ways to prevent this disease.”
Low-dose aspirin
Men and women who took low-dose aspirin regularly had 48% reduction in their risk for developing pancreatic cancer. Protection against pancreatic cancer ranged from 39% reduction in risk for those who took low-dose aspirin for six years or less, to 60% reduction in risk for those who took low-dose aspirin for more than 10 years.
“Older studies of aspirin use have been clouded by the use of [regular- or high-dose] aspirin for pain relief from conditions that themselves might be related to the risk for pancreatic cancer. Only recently have people been using low-dose aspirin for long enough times [to prevent cardiovascular disease] that the use might bear on risk of pancreatic cancer development,”Risch explained.
There is enough evidence that people who are considering aspirin use to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease can feel positive that their use might also lower their risk for pancreatic cancer…
Enough evidence
“There seems to be enough evidence that people who are considering aspirin use to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease can feel positive that their use might also lower their risk for pancreatic cancer, and quite certainly wouldn’t raise it,” Risch added.
Trial design
Study subjects were recruited from the 30 general hospitals in Connecticut between 2005 and 2009. There were 362 pancreatic cancer cases and 690 controls. Study subjects were interviewed in person to determine when they started using aspirin, the number of years they used aspirin, the type of aspirin they used – low versus regular dose. The information also included when the subjects stopped using aspirin. Confounding factors, including body mass index, smoking history, and history of diabetes, were also taken into account.
Of the study participants, 57% were men, about 92% were non-Hispanic white, about 49% were former or current smokers, and 19% had been diagnosed with diabetes within the three years prior to this study.
A dose of 75 to 325 mg of aspirin per day was considered as low-dose aspirin, usually taken for heart-disease prevention, and a dose higher than that, generally taken every four to six hours, was considered as regular-dose aspirin taken for pain or anti-inflammation purposes.
Among the participants, 96% of low-dose aspirin users and 92% of regular-dose aspirin users reported daily aspirin use.
Risk and risk reduction
The earlier a person started regularly taking low-dose aspirin, the greater the pancreatic cancer risk reduction, ranging from 48 percent reduction in those who started three years before the study, to 60 percent in those who started taking it 20 years before the study. On the other hand, discontinuation of aspirin use within two years prior to the study was associated with a threefold increased risk for pancreatic cancer compared with continuing use.
“People who are developing pancreatic cancer have various physiologic changes, including taste disorders, starting to occur two to three years before pancreatic cancer is diagnosed. Such individuals are more likely to quit using aspirin. So it may be tricky to separate the various aspects of patterns of aspirin use and risk of pancreatic cancer,” Risch noted.
“Aspirin use has potential risks of its own, and thus the risks and benefits for each person have to be evaluated based on personal characteristics and considerations,” added Risch. “For the small subset of individuals with strong family histories of pancreatic cancer or who otherwise have been evaluated to be at substantially increased risk of pancreatic cancer, aspirin use could be part of a regimen designed to reduce their risk.”
Helicobacter pylori colonization
In an unrelated study, the researchers looked at the pathophysiologic actions of Helicobacter pylori colonization on gastric acidity and have been hypothesized to modulate the effect of pancreatic carcinogens, through CagA-negative organism strain type, hyperchlorhydria and increased risk of pancreatic cancer, or CagA-positive strain, hypochlorhydria and decreased risk of pancreatic cancer.[1]
The results of this study provided suggestive evidence in humans for the involvement of gastric acidity, through its bidirectional modification according to colonization by Helicobacter pylori CagA strain type, in the risk of pancreatic carcinoma. They further concluded that H. pylori colonization may have diverse effects on cancer risk, depending on the organism strain type as well as on the particular cancer site.
For additional information:
[1] Risch HA, Lu L, Kidd MS, Wang J, Zhang W, Ni Q, Gao YT, Yu H. Helicobacter pylori seropositivities and risk of pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Jan;23(1):172-8.[Article][PubMed]]
Copyright ? 2014 InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent ofInPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication. InPress Media Group/Sunvalley Communication shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Onco’Zine and Oncozine are registered trademarks and trademarks of Sunvalley Communication around the world.
