Aspirin use doesn't cut cancer incidence in older T2DM patients

(HealthDay)—For Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, low-dose aspirin is not associated with reduced cancer incidence, except in those younger than 65 years, according to a study published online June 16 in Diabetes Care.

Sadanori Okada, M.D., from Nara Medical University in Kashihara, Japan, and colleagues conducted a post-trial follow-up of the Japanese Primary Prevention of Atherosclerosis with Aspirin for Diabetes trial. A total of 2,536 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomized to receive aspirin (81 or 100 mg daily) or no aspirin. Participants were followed from the trial end in 2008 until 2015.

The researchers found that 318 cancers occurred during a median follow-up of 10.7 years. There was no significant difference between the aspirin and no-aspirin groups in terms of cancer incidence (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.73 to 1.14; P = 0.4). Aspirin did not affect cancer incidence in men, women, or those aged ≥65 years in subgroup analyses. There was a decrease in cancer incidence associated with aspirin use among those aged <65 years (hazard ratio, 0.67; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.44 to 0.99; P = 0.048). Aspirin was associated with significantly reduced cancer incidence in participants aged <65 years after adjustment for sex, hemoglobin A1c, smoking status, and administration of metformin and statins (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.66; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.43 to 0.99; P = 0.04).

"Low-dose aspirin did not reduce cancer incidence in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

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