Daily Intake of Low-Dose Aspirin Linked to Lower Pancreatic Cancer Risk

Taking low-dose aspirin daily could reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, a new study has found.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health. The team found that men and women who regularly took the common painkiller had 48 percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer than other people. Also, longer the person took aspirin, lower was the cancer risk. For example, a 38 percent reduction was seen in people who took low-dose of the drug for six years compared to a 60 percent reduction in cancer risk in people who were on the drug for 10 years.

According to data from the National Cancer institute, around 46,420 new cases of pancreatic cancer in the U.S will be diagnosed in 2014 and 39,590 people will die from it. The latest study on aspirin might help reduce the chances of development of cancer in a subset of high-risk individuals.

"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, 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 percent, it is crucial to find ways to prevent this disease."

The study was based on data from 690 healthy controls and 362 patients - who were recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Participants were asked about their cancer history and whether or not they were using aspirin and at what dose. Researchers even obtained data about other risk factors that could be linked to pancreatic cancer.

In the study, low-dose aspirin was defined as 75 to 325 mg of aspirin per day. Low-dose aspirin is usually taken for prevention of heart disease in certain at-high-risk groups. Regular aspirin dose was when the dose exceeded 325 mg per day.

About 96 percent of low-dose aspirin users and  92 percent of regular-dose aspirin said that they used the drug daily.

Researchers said that healthy people need not take aspirin to prevent pancreatic cancer.

"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 in a news release. "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."

The study is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.