Aspirin and breast cancer risk: How a wonder drug may become more wonderful: Regular low-dose aspirin use was associated with a 16% lower risk of breast cancer.

When I was first diagnosed, I was advised by my oncologist to take a daily low dose aspirin to prevent recurrence. There is a lot of controversy about taking aspirin citing both pros and cons. Like everything else I did, I researched this topic and decided to continue taking the aspirin. This latest publication supports aspirin for risk reduction and is well worth sharing.

The article states: "In animal studies of breast cancer, aspirin has demonstrated anti-tumor properties, including inhibiting tumor cell division and impairing growth of precancerous cells. In humans, researchers have observed an anti-estrogen effect of aspirin."

Other studies I have read suggest that aspirin inhibits tumor angiogenesis.

From PubMed:

"Tumor neovascularization/tumor angiogenesis is a pathophysiological process in which new blood vessels are formed from existing blood vessels in the primary tumors to supply adequate oxygen and nutrition to cancer cells for their proliferation and metastatic growth to the distant organs. Therefore, controlling tumor angiogenesis is an attractive target for cancer therapy."

So, although the jury is still out and taking a low dose aspirin is not adopted as standard of care, unless you have some co-morbidities which make it dangerous to take a low-dose aspirin, decide for yourself. As for me, I am going to continue this seemingly harmless risk reduction strategy.