Aspirin may protect against pancreatic cancer

Use of aspirin appears to be beneficial in the prevention of pancreatic cancer, according to a study.

For the study, researchers used data from the Women’s Health Initiative observational study and clinical trial cohorts. They looked at the potential associations of total and individual NSAIDs with the risk of pancreatic cancer among postmenopausal women.

A total of 117,452 women between 55 and 79 years of age were included in the analysis. In this cohort, 727 incident pancreatic cancer cases were documented over 18 years of follow-up.

Cox regression analysis showed that compared with nonuse, consistent use of any NSAID was associated with a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 0.71, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.59–0.87). This association was pronounced for aspirin use specifically, being associated with a 33-percent risk reduction (HR, 0.67, 95 percent CI, 0.52–0.86).

On the other hand, the use of total or individual nonaspirin NSAIDs had no protective effect on the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Further analysis indicated stronger association between any NSAID use and pancreatic cancer risk among participants with prevalent diabetes (HR, 0.28, 95 percent CI, 0.10–0.75) than among those without (HR 0.75, 95 percent CI, 0.61–0.92; p=0.03 for interaction).

The findings contribute to existing evidence from prospective studies and clinical trials suggesting that the use of aspirin may provide some benefit for pancreatic cancer prevention.