Source: DGNews  |  Posted 8 years ago

By Cameron Johnston

TORONTO, ON -- April 8, 2003 -- Women who use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on a regular basis and over an extended period of time appear to have a significantly lower risk of developing breast cancer, according to an analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

The findings from the observational WHI study were scheduled to be presented here April 5th-9th at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, which was cancelled because of the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto recently. Instead, the analysis was presented April 8th in a conference call with medical reporters.

Dr. Randall Harris, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, said the latest results from the far-reaching WHI show that women who took aspirin, ibuprofen or related compounds for 5 to 9 years had a 21% reduction in breast cancer risk. Women who took them for 10 years or more had a 28% reduction in the risk of breast cancer. These points were all statistically significant, as was the trend that suggests the risk of cancer diminished the longer the woman takes an NSAID.

Of the 80,741 women between the aged of 50-79 who were followed for a mean of 4 years, there were 1,392 confirmed cases of breast cancer, for an overall annual incidence of 481 cases per 100,000 women per year. This was in keeping with the national average in the US, Dr. Harris said.

Dr. Harris said a striking finding in the study was that long-term ibuprofen users reduced their risk of cancer by just over 49%.

"We observed these effects with regular intake of standard doses -- 325 mg of aspirin and 200 mg of ibuprofen, at least three times per week." He added, however, that no comparable effect was seen among women who used so-called