Regular Aspirin Use Lowers the Risk of Ovarian Cancer, Study

It is well known that aspirin, the inexpensive over-the-counter drug, is the best remedy for fever, headache and pain. But a new study offers evidence stating regular use of aspirin might lower the risk of ovarian cancer.

A latest study by the National Institutes of Health offers early evidence that women who take aspirin on a daily basis have a 20 percent lower risk of developing the cancer than other women.

Aspirin, the anti-inflammatory drug, is used by millions of people to prevent heart attacks and stroke. This drug was in use for decades even before the medical experts really understood how the drug functions against certain chronic diseases. The study reports that over 20,000 American women will develop ovarian cancer in 2014 and over 14,000 women will die from the disease.

Studies have provided evidence of how chronic or persistent inflammation ups the risk of cancer and other diseases. Past research has revealed how inflammatory properties of aspirin and non aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, cuts the risk of overall cancer.

In the current study, researchers wanted to verify whether the use of NSAIDs lowers the risk of ovarian cancer in women. They used data retrieved from 12 studies that were a part of the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. The effect of the drug was evaluated in 8000 women diagnosed with cancer and other 12,000 women without cancer.

Among the participants, only 18 percent reported using aspirin, 24 percent used non aspirin NSAIDs and 16 percent used acetaminophen.

The researchers noticed that the participants who used aspirin on a daily basis had a 20 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer when compared to those who used aspirin just once every week.

Those women who were taking non-aspirin NSAIDs also observed a reduced risk of cancer but it was just a 10 percent lower risk  and wasn't statistically significant. On the other hand, the intake of the anti-inflammatory agent was linked with reduced risk of ovarian cancer.

 "Our study suggests that aspirin regimens, proven to protect against heart attack, may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer as well. However intriguing our results are, they should not influence current clinical practice. Additional studies are needed to explore the delicate balance of risk-benefit for this potential chemopreventive agent, as well as studies to identify the mechanism by which aspirin may reduce ovarian cancer risk," said Britton Trabert, Ph.D. of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and their colleagues, in a statement.

The study was documented in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.