A meta-analysis suggests that aspirin use may be associated with lower risks for up to 9 cancer types, including gastric, oesophageal, colorectal, pancreatic, ovarian, endometrial, breast and prostate cancers, and small intestine neuroendocrine tumours. The findings were published in the journal BMC Cancer.
Researchers performed a meta-analysis of 218 observational studies examining the correlation between aspirin use and various cancers identified through a literature search on the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases.
Aspirin use was associated with a lower risk for overall cancers (relative risk [RR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87-0.91). Among individual cancer types, aspirin use was linked to decreased risk for gastric cancer (RR, 0.75; 95% CI; 0.65-0.86), oesophageal cancer (RR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62-0.89), colorectal cancer (RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.74-0.85), pancreatic cancer (RR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68-0.93), ovarian cancer (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.95), endometrial cancer (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99), breast cancer (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.96), prostate cancer (RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.99) and small intestine neuroendocrine tumours (RR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.05-0.58).
"Although our study indicates a beneficial role of aspirin for overall cancers, the results should be interpreted with caution, considering that most studies included in the meta-analysis were based on secondary prevention rather than on primary prevention," the authors stated. They call for further adequately powered studies to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this correlation.
