A new study adds to the evidence that low-dose aspirin, known to reduce the risk for heart disease, may also reduce the risk for pancreatic cancer.
In a five-year study, published online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers compared aspirin use in 362 pancreatic cancer patients with 690 randomly chosen controls.
Participants were asked about past and present regular use of aspirin, defined as at least once a week for three months. After controlling for age, sex, race, smoking, diabetes and other variables, the researchers found that regular aspirin use lowered the risk for pancreatic cancer by 48 per cent.
Patients who had been taking aspirin regularly for one to three years reduced their risk by 43 per cent; those who had been taking it for seven to 20 years reduced risk by 56 per cent.