Aspirin Linked to Reduced Growth of Ear Tumors

FRIDAY, Jan. 31, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma (sVS), which can cause hearing loss, are half as likely to have tumor growth if they take aspirin, according to research published in the February issue of Otology & Neurotology.

Cherian K. Kandathil, M.B.,B.S., from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed the cases of 347 patients with sVS who underwent serial magnetic resonance imaging scans. Of these, 81 took aspirin and 266 did not take aspirin.

The researchers found that 33 of the aspirin users and 154 of the non-aspirin users had tumor growth. The likelihood of tumor growth was significantly lower among aspirin users (odds ratio, 0.50), regardless of age and sex.

"Our results suggest a potential therapeutic role of aspirin in inhibiting sVS growth," Kandathil and colleagues conclude.

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