Low-Dose Aspirin Could Reduce The Risk Of Developing Breast Cancer In Women, A New Study Says

Studies indicated the baby aspirin also known as low-dose aspirin could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. In a new study, it also suggests that low-dose aspirin could help prevent breast cancer in women.

The findings of the study were published in Breast Cancer Research on May 1, 2017. The study was led by Lesli Bernstein, Ph.D., of the Division of Biomarkers of Early Detection and Prevention at the City of Hope Beckman Research Institute in Monrovia, Calif., and other colleagues, according to Medical News Today.

The scientists stated that this is the first study that indicates the low-dose aspirin could reduce the risks and not for regular-dose aspirin and only among women with the hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative subtype. The study involved 57,164 women who had no family history of breast cancer and in their early 60's and white.

The researchers examined their data and discovered that about 23 percent of them are taking low-dose aspirin (81 milligrams), at least three times a week. About 18 percent of them took ibuprofen, 11 percent took a full-strength aspirin with 325 milligrams and 10 percent took a COX-2 inhibitor or another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) at least three times a week.

The team compared them to women who had never taken baby aspirin on a regular basis. The results showed that for over seven years, those women who regularly took the low-dose aspirin were 16 percent less likely to develop breast cancer compared to those women who took no NSAID. They also noticed a 20 percent reduction in risk of acquiring the most common type of breast cancer that is hormone-receptor-positive and Her2-negative, according to The Washington Post.

Dr. Carlos Robles, an oncologist at Saint Francis medical center, said that low-dose aspirin is a wonderful drug and can lower myocardial damage, heart attacks and maybe colon cancer. On the other hand, it could put someone at risk of gastric bleeding or other unnecessary kinds of bleeding. The doctors recommend not to take too much of aspirin and to wait to adapt this procedure unto more studies to support this research, as pointed out by Romper.