Aspirin may prevent cancer

[bongme]

hi

Monday, 8 April, 2002

Anti-inflammatory drugs like low-dose aspirin may help to prevent some kinds of cancer in people at high risk of the disease, say researchers.

The drugs are already used to protect against heart disease.

But new research suggest they may also be helpful in tackling another of the biggest killers.

(There was a significant reduction in the risk of new adenomas in people taking baby aspirin Professor John Baron )

People with precancerous conditions - like benign colon polyps - have a 25% to 50% chance of developing potentially deadly secondary cancers.

A three-year study of 1,121 people with benign colon tumours, called adenomas, showed that a daily low-dose aspirin (also known as baby aspirin) cut their risk of developing more tumours by 19%.

Among patients who had a more aggressive type of adenoma the risk was cut by 40%.

No such benefit was found among patients who took a higher dose of the drug - 325mg instead of 80mg.

No panacea

(It's important that people do not start taking regular doses of aspirin on a long-term basis without medical supervision

Dr Mary Berrington)  

Lead researcher Professor John Baron, of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said: "Overall, there was a significant reduction in the risk of new adenomas in people taking baby aspirin.

"But it is clear that aspirin will not be a magic bullet. It will have to be integrated into routine care, supervised by a physician."

Professor Baron warned that even low doses of aspirin can lead to side effects such as bleeding and stroke.

His theory is that aspirin cuts the risk of cancer by blocking the action of an enzyme essential to the growth of tumours.

If he is correct, this could mean that aspirin may have a similarly beneficial effect on other cancers of the digestive system.

Other drugs

Another anti-inflammatory drug, Celebrex is now being studied in clinical trials to see if it works to reduce pre-cancerous conditions.

Dr Mary Berrington, science information managers for Cancer Research UK, said: "These results are encouraging and add to the growing body of evidence that the use of 'non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs' such as aspirin can help reduce the incidence of bowel polyps."

Dr Berrington said Cancer Research UK was running a study of a specially modified form of aspirin and of folic acid, to see whether this combination is as - or more - effective than aspirin on its own in reducing the risk of further polyps.

However, she said: "It's important that people do not start taking regular doses of aspirin on a long-term basis without medical supervision."

Bongme