By Emily Murray

Surviving breast cancer is an amazing accomplishment. Once a woman is in remission, the next few years of checkups are vital to be sure that another tumor doesn’t form. A new study may offer insight on one way women can reduce their risks of receiving another frightening diagnosis.

For women who are overweight or obese breast cancer survivors, the use of a regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) might be enough to lower the risk of recurrence by a substantial rate.

This information was recently released as part of research conducted by the University of Texas at Austin.

The study showed some rather hopeful numbers. Researchers studied postmenopausal women categorized as obese or overweight, who were also receiving hormone therapy. Those using NSAIDs had a 50% reduced rate of the most common form of breast cancer while extending recurrence by two years.

As far as how weight impacts cancer, women who are heavier tend to have a worse prognosis than those who are within their recommended weight range. It’s believed that the changes their bodies undergo is a bit different. Overweight women see a change on the molecular level and unfortunately are often less responsive to treatment. This is something that doctors cannot completely pin on any one reason yet.

By starting a low-dose aspirin regimen (similar to those recommended for certain heart patients), those at a high risk for breast cancer may be used to help reduce the risk of breast cancer.

While this is just a preliminary study, it does provide hope that perhaps this low-cost regimen could be useful for beating the odds.