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Study: aspirin cuts colon cancer risk
Source: Agencies |
September 22, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE with a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer could cut their chances of developing the disease in half by taking a daily dose of aspirin, researchers said yesterday.
The finding might lead to other treatments by helping researchers understand how aspirin combats colon cancer.
European researchers followed more than 1,000 people with Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation that makes them vulnerable to cancers in the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. The syndrome accounts for about 5 percent of all colon cancers.
About half of the study participants were given aspirin daily, while the other half got placebo pills for about four years.
In the group that got aspirin, six people developed colon cancer, compared to 16 in the group that got placebos. "We are delighted," said John Burn of Britain's Newcastle University, who led the study. "All the more so because we stopped giving the aspirin after four years, yet the effect is continuing."
Burn presented the study at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization in Berlin.
Previous studies have found patients who already have colon cancer and are being treated with chemotherapy and surgery may further reduce their risk of dying by up to 30 percent by taking aspirin. The cheap drug is also taken by millions of people worldwide to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
"If this is true, doctors should change how they treat their at-risk patients," said Alfred Neugut, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who has done similar work.
Still, experts said the finding would have no immediate impact on the general public.
"This doesn't mean that everyone should start taking aspirin if they're worried about bowel cancer," said Henry Snowcroft of Cancer Research UK. "Aspirin can cause significant side effects if not used as directed by a doctor."
The finding might lead to other treatments by helping researchers understand how aspirin combats colon cancer.
European researchers followed more than 1,000 people with Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation that makes them vulnerable to cancers in the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. The syndrome accounts for about 5 percent of all colon cancers.
About half of the study participants were given aspirin daily, while the other half got placebo pills for about four years.
In the group that got aspirin, six people developed colon cancer, compared to 16 in the group that got placebos. "We are delighted," said John Burn of Britain's Newcastle University, who led the study. "All the more so because we stopped giving the aspirin after four years, yet the effect is continuing."
Burn presented the study at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization in Berlin.
Previous studies have found patients who already have colon cancer and are being treated with chemotherapy and surgery may further reduce their risk of dying by up to 30 percent by taking aspirin. The cheap drug is also taken by millions of people worldwide to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
"If this is true, doctors should change how they treat their at-risk patients," said Alfred Neugut, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who has done similar work.
Still, experts said the finding would have no immediate impact on the general public.
"This doesn't mean that everyone should start taking aspirin if they're worried about bowel cancer," said Henry Snowcroft of Cancer Research UK. "Aspirin can cause significant side effects if not used as directed by a doctor."
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