NSAIDs Reduce Breast Cancer Recurrence among Overweight Women

For overweight women, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, could cause certain breast cancers to be more treatable, according to a recent study [Cancer Res. 2014; DOI:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3603].

The study specifically found that hormone-driven breast cancer was less likely to recur in overweight women who regularly used NSAIDs. However, the study’s authors noted that the findings did not prove the drugs prevent cancer, and it is too soon to determine if women should start taking NSAIDs to protect against cancer recurrence.

In addition, women whose body mass index was >30 kg/m² and who had estrogen receptor alpha-positive breast cancer had a 52% lower rate of recurrence and a 28-month delay in time to recurrence in women taking NSAIDs.

Previous studies have found that obese women had worse breast cancer outcomes than thinner women. That is also believed to be particularly true for postmenopausal women with a type of breast cancer that is fueled by estrogen. While postmenopausal women with estrogen-driven breast cancer can take medicine to stop that process, those drugs are less effective among obese patients.

The study’s senior researcher, Linda deGraffenried, PhD, University of Texas, Austin, and colleagues examined data from 440 women diagnosed with estrogen-driven breast cancer treated between 1987 and 2011 at the Texas Health Science Center and the START Center for Cancer Care clinic, both of which are located in San Antonio, Texas. Most of the women were overweight or obese and had gone through menopause.

Of the women studied, 58.5% were obese and 25.8% were overweight. Approximately 81% of the participants took aspirin, and the rest took another NSAID. Approximately 42% and 25% took statins and omega-3 fatty acid, respectively.

Approximately 6% of women who reported regular NSAID use had their cancer return compared with 12% of women who did not report regular NSAID use, according to the study. The cancers that did return among those who used NSAIDs also tended to reappear later than the cancers of those who did not take NSAIDs.

Using laboratory experiments and blood samples, the researchers then sought to find an explanation for the link. According to Dr. deGraffenried, compared to women at a more normal weight, the laboratory results suggested that the bodies of overweight women are more hospitable environments to estrogen-driven breast cancers, making it more difficult for treatments to work. By reducing inflammation, the environment within the bodies of obese women in which the cancer lives becomes more like the environment of normal-weight women.

The researchers noted that additional research is needed to determine a direct link.—Kerri Fitzgerald