UK - Aspirin 'prevents bowel cancer'

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Thursday, 10

May 2007

Aspirin 'prevents bowel cancer'

Oxford University researchers

said taking a dose of 300mg a day for five years offered the protection. Long-term aspirin use is generally not backed because of

the risk of stomach problems, but the team said it could benefit those at

high-risk of cancer. Cancer

campaigners welcomed the study - published in the Lancet - which examined data

from previous research covering more than 7,500 people.

Each

year, around 35,000 men and women in the UK are diagnosed

with bowel cancer, and more than 16,000 die from the disease.

The

researchers looked at the results from two large-scale UK trials

carried out in the late 1970s and early 1980s covering over 7,500 people which had given some people 300, 500 or 1,200mg per day

doses of aspirin or a dummy pill for five to seven years. The people in the study were then

followed for up to 20 years, and deaths from bowel cancer were logged.

The

team say it takes at least 10 years to see an effect,

because that is how long it takes for a pre-cancerous growths to develop into

cancer. Other studies have examined aspirin's benefits. However, this was the first where people

were allocated to take different doses of the drug, or the fake version, rather

than looking back at the aspirin use of bowel cancer patients and comparing

them with healthy people.

High risk group 'benefit'

The

researchers found that taking 300mg of aspirin - the equivalent of one pill - a

day for five years reduced the incidence of bowel cancer by 74% in the

subsequent 10 to 15 years. An accompanying review of 30 observational studies

suggested taking medium-to-high doses of aspirin for 10 years or more reduced the

risk of developing the disease by 50%-70%. The protective effect of aspirin appeared

to be consistent regardless of age, sex, race or

country of origin. It was also seen

in individuals who had a close family relative with bowel cancer, which

normally raises the lifetime risk two to four times.

Professor

Rothwell, who led the research, said: " What we are

saying is that for a subgroup of people at high risk of bowel cancer, they

probably aren't going to be dramatically harmed by taking aspirin. " They may have some risk of bleeding

in the stomach, but they will see potentially significant benefits in the

reduction of their colon cancer risk.

" In

that situation, I think taking aspirin daily would be worthwhile. "

Warning

Dr

Chan, from Massachusetts

General Hospital in Boston, writing in

the Lancet, said the findings were " convincing evidence " that aspirin

can reduce the incidence of bowel cancer.

But he added: " With the concerns about the potential risks of

long-term aspirin use and the availability of alternative prevention strategies

- such as screening - these findings are not sufficient to warrant a

recommendation for the general population to use aspirin for cancer

prevention. "

Rob

Glynne-, chief medical advisor to the charity Bowel

Cancer UK, said:

" This is very interesting and it certainly confirms what we already know

and believe about the links between aspirin, polyps

and the development of bowel cancer. " However, these findings are not an

indication that the general population should rush out and take what is a high

dosage of aspirin on a daily basis. " Aspirin at this dose over a

prolonged period of time could lead to potentially serious side effects in a

few people. "

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