Daily dose of aspirin ‘aids breast cancer fight’

A daily dose of aspirin improves survival rates among women with breast cancer significantly, research has shown.

Scientists looked at women already taking a low dose of aspirin at the time they were diagnosed with the disease which affects 2,000 women in Ireland every year.

“Our research shows there is a significant improvement in survival rates among women who are taking low dose aspirin at the point of breast cancer diagnosis,” said Dr Thomas Ian Barron at the department of pharmacology and therapeutics at Trinity College Dublin.

Dr Barron, supervisor to two Irish Cancer Society research scholars, presented the research in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology at the weekend.

Low-dose aspirin (75mg), which is only available on prescription, accounted for 90% of aspirin use among women with high-aspirin exposure, suggesting that it might be enough to reduce mortality in women with the disease.

The population based study looked at 2,714 women with the disease.

Researchers used patient records from the National Cancer Registry linked to prescription dispensing data from the HSE.

It found 642 women used aspirin in the 90 days before a breast cancer diagnosis.

“Quite noticeably, women diagnosed with breast cancer who were taking low dose aspirin consistently every day for a cardiovascular indication, for example, obtained the benefit of it and lived longer,” said Dr Barron.

There have been previous observational studies associating aspirin use with large reductions in breast cancer mortality.

However, according to Dr Barron, overall results to date have been mixed.

He said studies up to now provided limited information on dose or duration of aspirin use — key issues that were relevant in the translation of results into clinical practice.

Dr Barron said the TCD study made the case for a randomised clinical trial for aspirin in patients with breast cancer that not only looked closely at dosage and timing of use, but also the possibility that higher doses might provide additional benefit.

He said it would also be valuable to know if the effects of aspirin use on breast cancer mortality differed by breast cancer sub-type.

Dr Barron was one of 20 Irish-based researchers presenting studies at the meeting, six of whom are members of the all Ireland Cooperative Clinical Research Group.

Head of research at the Irish Cancer Society, Professor John Fitzpatrick, said cancer research in Ireland was at a very high level and this was reflected in the significant number of researchers attending the meeting.

The Irish Cancer Society has contributed more than €30m to cancer research since 1963. During that time over 650 important research findings have been made.

* www.cancer.ie