Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug that may decrease breast cancer risk.
Benign breast disease is a term used to describe non-cancerous breast conditions that, according to the American Cancer Society, are common and experienced by most women. Some benign breast conditions may increase breast cancer risk. Aspirin therapy may reduce breast cancer incidence in those cases.
Benign Breast Disease
Benign breast conditions are divided into three groups, differentiated by hyperplasia or cell growth and microscopic appearance. Non-proliferative lesions consist of cells that do not cause overgrowth of breast tissue. Proliferative lesions without atypia exhibit hyperplasia and normal-looking cells. Proliferative lesions with atypia show hyperplasia and cells with an unusual appearance.
Breast Cancer Risk
A study conducted at the Mayo Clinic found no increased risk of breast cancer in women with non-proliferative benign breast disease who lacked a strong family history of breast cancer. Women with proliferative lesions but no atypia displayed a relative breast cancer risk of 1.88 when compared to women in the general population. Cell proliferation and atypia increased relative breast cancer risk to 4.24.
Cancer and Aspirin
A study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests a correlation between decreased breast cancer risk in women with benign breast disease and aspirin use. It claims risk reduction appears to depend upon dose, frequency and duration of aspirin use. A study published in the "British Journal of Cancer" found no association between low-dose aspirin therapy, defined as 100 mg every other day, and reduced breast cancer risk, further supporting the hypothesis that risk reduction is dose and frequency-dependent.
Tags: breast cancer, cancer risk, breast cancer risk, breast cancer risk, breast conditions, Benign Breast Disease
