Risk of breast cancer among users of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs

Abstract

We conducted a cohort study with a nested case-control analysis to evaluate the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs in breast cancer incidence using the General Practice Research Database. Women taking aspirin and paracetamol for 1 year or longer had an odds ratio (OR) of 0.77 (95 percent confidence interval (95% CI): 0.62,0.95) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.65,0.88), respectively, compared to nonusers. Daily doses of aspirin (75 mg) and paracetamol (up to 2000 mg) showed the greatest reduced risk. Use of non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for more than 1 year was not associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer (OR=1.00 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.17), and the corresponding estimate among users with at least 2 years duration was similar. Our findings suggest that aspirin at cardioprophylactic doses as well as paracetamol at analgesic doses is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer.