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Collections under which this article appears: Other Epidemiology Cancer: lung

BMJ 2002;325:8 ( 6 July )
 

News roundup

Study shows that aspirin reduces lung cancer risk in women by a third

Susan Mayor London

Women taking aspirin regularly are a third less likely to develop lung cancer than those not taking it, a major prospective cohort study published last week has shown.

The case-control study was part of the New York University women’s health study—which enrolled 14 275 women aged 31 to 70 years when they attended a mammography screening clinic in New York city. All women completed a detailed self administered questionnaire at baseline, which they repeated at intervals of about two years.

This included questions on demographic, anthropometric, reproductive, and dietary factors, medical history, and drug treatment. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the role of endogenous hormones in breast cancer, but the data collected enabled the investigators to look at a range of other risk factors and cancers.

Results showed that the odds ratio for lung cancer (all histological subtypes combined) was 0.66 (95% confidence interval 0.34 to 1.28) in women who reported taking aspirin three or more times each week for at least six months. This risk ratio was adjusted for smoking and education.

The association between aspirin use and non-small cell lung cancer was even stronger, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.39 (0.16 to 1.28). These odds ratios were based on the identification of 144 women with incident lung cancer after a median follow up of 12 years. Each case was compared with 10 controls randomly selected from the study participants, matched for age, menopausal status, date of enrollment, and duration of follow up (British Journal of Cancer 2002;87:49-53).

Dr Arslan Akhmedkhanov, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the New York University School of Medicine and lead author of the lung cancer study, said: "The results are suggestive that aspirin may be associated with a reduction in lung cancer—particularly non-small cell lung cancer."

Aspirin might reduce lung cancer by its known anti-inflammatory properties, inhibiting COX enzymes, because increased COX 2 expression has been implicated in some epithelial tumours, such as non-small cell lung cancer.

But he added: "At this time, we are not saying that women should take aspirin on a regular basis to reduce their risk of cancer. Aspirin is not harmless but is associated with potentially major side effects, such as gastrointestinal bleeding."

He noted that his study had several limitations, including a relatively small number of lung cancer cases; the dependence on self reported data on aspirin use; and lack of information on the indication, dose, and precise duration of aspirin use. Larger studies are currently ongoing in the United States and the United Kingdom that will provide more information on these issues.
 
 

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