New study reports: “No benefit of Celecoxib in Breast Cancer Patients”

New study reports: “No benefit of Celecoxib in Breast Cancer Patients”
A recent study looking at the use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), celecoxib, in participants who have had surgery for breast cancer, has shown no improvement in survival compared with a placebo (dummy drug).

This research was performed on 2639 patients who had undergone surgery (sometimes in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy). Patients were randomly assigned to receive either placebo tablets or celecoxib for 2 years. The results showed no difference in the percentage of patients whose cancer returned, nor their survival, between the two groups. They also showed no significant side effects from the drug.

The first report of this trial was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, but the full report has yet to be published, and we will further review the data on its official release.

Although aspirin is also part of the group of drugs known as NSAIDS, celecoxib is known to work differently to aspirin in order to exert its effects. We do not believe this new information affects the rationale for the Add-Aspirin trial, however we will continue to monitor all new information carefully.