Breast Cancer and Asprin

Aspirin may boost survival, cut risk of recurrence in breast cancer survivors.
The CBS Evening News (2/16, story 7, 0:20, Couric) reported that "a new study says breast cancer survivors who take aspirin regularly may be less likely to die or have their cancer return."
NBC Nightly News (2/16, story 5, 1:45, Williams) reported that the researchers found that "women who had been diagnosed with early breast cancer and who just happen to be taking aspirin, somewhere between two and five days, had a 50% reduction in dying of the breast cancer." In women who took "aspirin just once a week, there was no benefit," but, those who took "aspirin two to five times a week" experienced "a 71 percent reduction in dying from a return of the cancer," ABC World News (2/16, story 4, 2:00, Besser) reported.
The Los Angeles Times (2/17, Maugh) reports that the study of 4,164 breast cancer patients, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that those "who took aspirin two to five days per week were 60 percent less likely to have a recurrence and 71 percent less likely to die from the disease." The findings challenge "at least five large studies" that "have shown that taking aspirin regularly has no effect on the risk of developing breast cancer in the first place."
USA Today (2/17, Szabo) reports that the researchers said that "aspirin may help control cancer by fighting inflammation," as "breast cancers produce more inflammatory chemicals than normal breast cells." But, they "cautioned that more research is needed to confirm the findings before recommending that breast cancer patients take aspirin to increase their chances of surviving," the Washington Post (2/16, Stein) "The Checkup" blog reported.
According to the Boston Globe (2/17, Smith), "The study did not ask women what dose of aspirin they were taking, nor why they were taking it." The findings "also suggested other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs...may reduce breast cancer recurrence, although that effect was evident only in women who took those medicines 6 to 7 days a week." Notably, "no link could be established between acetaminophen...and reduced breast cancer mortality."
The Boston Globe (2/16, Gil) "White Coat Notes" blog, the Wall Street Journal (2/17, Sataline), Reuters (2/17, Fox), HealthDay (2/16, Doheny), and MedPage Today (2/16, Phend) also covered the story.