Adrian Lee

PhD

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology

PLCO (Learn more about this study)

PLCO-725

Jan 28, 2021

Impact of Anti-Inflammatory Medication Use on Breast Cancer Incidence and Survival in Elderly ER+ Breast Cancer

As the US population continues to grow older, increasing numbers of women are presenting with breast cancers at advanced ages. It is estimated that the peak incidence of breast cancer diagnoses occurs at age 70 or older. The proportion of estrogen receptor (ER) positive tumors also increases with age: ~70% of tumors in patients aged <65 are classified as ER+, but this is >80% for patients >75. Despite ER+ tumors presenting with favorable prognostic markers, due to its frequency, ER+ disease still comprises the highest percentage of breast cancer-related deaths. Elderly patients present a clinical challenge: because these patients typically present with less aggressive tumors and are more likely to have comorbidities, overtreatment of a cancer that will not ultimately cause death can lead to a diminished quality of life; yet undertreating these patients can still lead to tumor recurrence. We hypothesize that these tumors in the elderly population are largely a product of age-related systemic inflammation in concert with changing estradiol and estrone levels. Thus, we seek to determine if long-term use of use of anti-inflammatory medications, including aspirin, NSAIDs, metformin, and statins, impacts disease incidence and survival.