(Journal of the National Cancer Institute) -- Regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, is associated with a reduced risk of a specific type of gastric (stomach) cancer, according to a review of past studies.

Gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Benjamin Chun-Yu Wong, M.D., of the University of Hong Kong, Queens Mary Hospital, and his colleagues reviewed data from nine studies, which included 2,831 patients with gastric cancer, and found that long-term use of aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs is associated with a dose-dependent reduction in the risk of gastric cancer. Further analysis showed that NSAID use was associated with a reduced risk of noncardia gastric cancer, but not of gastric cancer at the cardia (the opening of the esophagus into the stomach).