The report which reviewed 21 studies into the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) carried out over the last 27 years, found a 20 percent risk reduction in the incidence of breast cancer.

Professor Ian Fentiman of Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London, who carried out the review says such drugs could also help treat women who already have breast cancer.

Professor Fentiman says NSAIDs, a class of common painkiller which includes ibuprofen, could help ward off the disease as they appear to offer significant protection against developing breast cancer in the first place and may provide a useful addition to the treatment currently available to women who already have the disease.

Fentiman suggests that while recent studies of NSAIDs use have shown about a 20 percent risk reduction in the incidence of breast cancer, this benefit may be confined to aspirin use alone.

The review was based on 11 studies of women who already had breast cancer and 10 which compared women who did and did not have the disease.

However Fentiman believes more research needs to be done on the exact type of drug, as well as how it is administered, before any campaign is launched urging women to take the drugs regularly.

Professor Fentiman says the purpose of such a review is to examine a wide range of published studies, consider all the findings and establish if any overarching conclusions are reached.

This he says includes regarding conflicting results and exploring how the studies were carried out.

He says some of the studies found no links between NSAIDs and reduced levels of breast cancer at all.

While previous studies have suggested that aspirin can reduce the risk of bowel cancer, this review appears to be the first to say it can also cut the risk of breast cancer.

Professor Fentimann says he is not advocating that women take these non-prescription drugs routinely until the benefits and risks are clearer.

People should also be aware of the risks associated with regular aspirin use, in particular stomach irritation and the potential for bleeding and ulcers in the stomach.

The review is published by the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

The researchers noted that the drug combination would likely be well tolerated because it did not cause excessive bleeding in the mice, as might be expected from platelet inhibitors. The research group plans to continue to study the process of metastasis and the role played by platelets.

In collaboration with Michael Naughton, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, Weilbaecher is also involved in a clinical trial of women with advanced breast cancer to test aspirin and Plavix?®, another antiplatelet drug, to see if the drug combination affects the number of tumor cells that circulate in the blood. The trial is open only to breast cancer patients undergoing treatment at the Siteman Cancer Center.

Ulu?§kan ?–, Eagleton MC, Floyd DH, Morgan EA, Hirbe AC, Kramer M, Dowland N, Prior JL, Piwnica-Worms D, Jeong SS, Chen R, Weilbaecher K. APT102, a novel adpase, cooperates with aspirin to disrupt bone metastasis in mice. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Feb. 7, 2008 (advance online publication).

Funding from National Institutes of Health, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation and Washington University supported this research.

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

Siteman Cancer Center is the only federally-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis. Siteman Cancer Center is composed of the combined cancer research and treatment programs of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. Siteman has satellite locations in West County and St. Peters, in addition to its full-service facility at Washington University Medical Center on South Kingshighway.

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