Researchers affiliated with the Multiethnic Cohort (Hawaii and Los Angeles, California) have reported that the regular use of aspirin is associated with a 27% reduction in the risk of developing distal gastric adenocarcinoma. The details of this study were published in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.[1]

There is accumulating evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin could play a significant role in cancer prevention. Regular use of NSAIDs has been associated with a decreased incidence of skin cancers, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer. Regular use of aspirin has also been shown to reduce the incidence of colon adenomas, colorectal, head and neck, esophageal, breast, and pancreatic cancers. There have been no reports of the effects of NSAIDs and aspirin for prevention of gastric cancers.

The current study involved 643 patients with gastric adenocarcinomas diagnosed between 1993 and 2004. Persons who used aspirin on a regular basis had a 27% reduction in the risk of developing distal gastric cancer compared with nonusers. However, there was no effect of regular use of NSAIDs on the incidence of distal gastric cancer. The protective effect of aspirin was limited to intestinal-type gastric adencarcinoma (HR=0.66) with no effect on diffuse-type distal gastric adenocarcinoma. There was also no apparent effect on distal espophageal or gastric cardia cancers.

Comments: It appears that gastric adenocarcinoma can now be added to the list of cancers affected positively by the regular use of aspirin.  This study found no effect on distal esophageal cancer, while at least one other study showed a decreased risk of both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Reference: