New Study Shows Aspirin May Lower the Risk of Ovarian Cancer

Orange County, CA - October 5th, 2018 - Early-stage ovarian cancer rarely causes any symptoms. It often goes undetected until it has spread within the pelvis and abdomen. Ovarian cancer found at an earlier stage where the disease is confined to the ovary could be treated successfully. Advanced-stage ovarian cancer may cause few and nonspecific symptoms that are often mistaken for more common benign conditions; it can be more difficult to treat and is usually fatal.

It is not clear what causes ovarian cancer; doctors have identified factors that increase the risk of the disease such as old age, inherited gene mutations, or family history. A new study published by JAMA Oncology found that women who reported taking a low-dose aspirin every day had a 23 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer compared to non-aspirin users.

The study involved associate center director for Population Science at Moffitt, Shelley Tworoger, Ph.D. work with researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They examined data from over 200,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Studies based at Brigham, and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Of the study participants, 1,054 developed ovarian cancer. Researchers looked at the use of low-dose aspirin (100 milligrams or less), aspirin (325 milligrams), non-aspirin NSAIDs, and acetaminophen. They discovered that low-dose aspirin use was associated with a lower risk of ovarian cancer while standard-dose aspirin use was not. However, the information showed women who took non-aspirin NSAIDs often, defined by at least 10 tablets per week for many years, had an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.