The association between mammographic density measures and aspirin or other NSAID use

There is evidence that aspirin use reduces the risk of breast cancer. Increased mammographic density is known to be associated with increased breast cancer risk. Little is known about the association between mammographic density and aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, but it is possible that the association between aspirin use and breast cancer risk might be due to the effect of aspirin on mammographic density. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the association between measures of mammographic density and the use, frequency, and duration of aspirin and other NSAIDs such as paracetamol (acetaminophen), arthritis medication, and other over-the-counter or doctor-prescribed pain medications in 3286 women from the Australian Mammographic Density Twins and Sisters Study and the Genes Behind Endometriosis Study. We found no association between either dense area or percent dense area with any of the NSAIDs examined (all P > 0.06). If aspirin is reducing the breast cancer risk in women, it is likely doing so via a different pathway other than mammographic density measures that predict breast cancer risk. Similar content being viewed by others

Mangiapane S, Blettner M, Schlattmann P (2008) Aspirin use and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis and meta-regression of observational studies from 2001 to 2005. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 17(2):115–124 Takkouche B, Regueira-Mendez C, Etminan M (2008) Breast cancer and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: a meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst 100(20):1439–1447 Zhao YS, Zhu S, Li XW, Wang F, Hu FL, Li DD, Zhang WC, Li X (2009) Association between NSAIDs use and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat 117(1):141–150 Agrawal A, Fentiman IS (2008) NSAIDs and breast cancer: a possible prevention and treatment strategy. Int J Clin Pract 62(3):444–449 Harris RE, Namboodiri KK, Farrar WB (1996) Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and breast cancer. Epidemiology 7(2):203–205 McCormack VA, dos Santos Silva I (2006) Breast density and parenchymal patterns as markers of breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15(6):1159–1169 Boyd N, Martin L, Chavez S, Gunasekara A, Salleh A, Melnichouk O, Yaffe M, Friedenreich C, Minkin S, Bronskill M (2009) Breast-tissue composition and other risk factors for breast cancer in young women: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Oncol. 10(6):569–580 Brisson J, Brisson B, Cote G, Maunsell E, Berube S, Robert J (2000) Tamoxifen and mammographic breast densities. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 9(9):911–915 Chow CK, Venzon D, Jones EC, Premkumar A, O’Shaughnessy J, Zujewski J (2000) Effect of tamoxifen on mammographic density. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 9(9):917–921 Cuzick J, Warwick J, Pinney E, Warren RM, Duffy SW (2004) Tamoxifen and breast density in women at increased risk of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 96(8):621–628 Greendale GA, Reboussin BA, Slone S, Wasilauskas C, Pike MC, Ursin G (2003) Postmenopausal hormone therapy and change in mammographic density. J Natl Cancer Inst 95(1):30–37 Boyd NF, Dite GS, Stone J, Gunasekara A, English DR, McCredie MR, Giles GG, Tritchler D, Chiarelli A, Yaffe MJ, Hopper JL (2002) Heritability of mammographic density, a risk factor for breast cancer. N Engl J Med 347(12):886–894 Odefrey F, Stone J, Gurrin LC, Byrnes GB, Apicella C, Dite G, Cawson J, Giles GG, Treloar SA, English DR, Hopper JL, Southey MC (2010) Common genetic variants associated with breast cancer and mammographic density measures that predict disease. Cancer Res 70(4):1449–1458 Treloar S, Hadfield R, Montgomery G, Lambert A, Wicks J, Barlow DH, O’Connor DT, Kennedy S (2002) The International Endogene Study: a collection of families for genetic research in endometriosis. Fertil Steril 78(4):679–685 Maskarinec G, Urano Y, Gill J, Kolonel LN (2008) Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and mammographic density. Breast Cancer Res Treat 112(1):133–139 McTiernan A, Wang CY, Sorensen B, Xiao L, Buist DS, Aiello Bowles EJ, White E, Rossing MA, Potter J, Urban N (2009) No effect of aspirin on mammographic density in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 18(5):1524–1530 Terry MB, Buist DS, Trentham-Dietz A, James-Todd TM, Liao Y (2008) Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and change in mammographic density: a cohort study using pharmacy records on over 29,000 postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 17(5):1088–1095 Teter B, Fuhrman B, Barba M, Muti P (2006) Aspirin use and mammographic density as a marker of breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, in AACR Meeting Abstracts Boyd N, Martin L, Stone J, Little L, Minkin S, Yaffe M (2002) A longitudinal study of the effects of menopause on mammographic features. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 11(10 Pt 1):1048–1053 Conflict of interest None. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Appendix Appendix Examples of aspirin use provided to participants were aspro, disprin, cardiprin, cartia and solprin. Examples of paracetamol were panadol, panamax, panadiene, codral, panadiene forte, mersyndol, dymadon, sinutab, codalgin, di-gesic, panalgesic, paralgin, and tylenol. Examples of over-the-counter ani-inflammatories were nurofen, ibuprofen, voltaren rapid, aclin, actiprofen, anaprox, athrexin, arthrotec, brufen, clinoril, diclofenac, dolobid, feldene, fenac, indocid, naprogesic, naprosyn, orudis, pirohexal, prioxicam, ponstan, proxen, rafen, and rosig. Examples of doctor-prescribed anti-inflammatories were voltaren, brufen, indocid, naprosyn, fenac, feldens, orudis, and oruvail. Examples of arthritis anti-inflammatory medicines were celebrex, mobic, and vioxx. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Stone, J., Willenberg, L., Apicella, C. et al. The association between mammographic density measures and aspirin or other NSAID use. Breast Cancer Res Treat 132, 259–266 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1834-2 Received: Accepted: Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1834-2