Risk'
Low doses of aspirin taken to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes can
also lower the risk of colon cancer, British researchers reported on Thursday.
They found that aspirin reduced the number of cases of colorectal cancer by a
quarter and cut colon cancer deaths by a third.
They said their findings may tip the balance in favor of using aspirin to
prevent colon cancer, which is the second most common form of cancer in
developed countries after lung cancer.
But their findings, published in the Lancet medical journal, are unlikely to
settle a matter that doctors consider controversial.
Many studies have shown that people who take high doses of aspirin are less
likely to develop colon cancer and the little growths called polyps that can
develop into cancer.
But aspirin itself can be dangerous to many people, causing sometimes deadly
bleeding in the stomach and intestines.
Other studies have found that a related painkiller, ibuprofen, can also reduce
colon cancer rates among people who take it regularly over the long term.
Peter Rothwell of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and colleagues looked at
four big studies of 14,000 people, half of them taking low-dose aspirin for
heart disease. These lower doses of aspirin are considered much safer.
Over about 18 years, they reported, 2.8 percent of the volunteers developed
colon cancer. Aspirin reduced the 20-year risk of colon cancer by 24 percent and
lowered the risk that a patient would die from colon cancer by 35 percent, they
said.
"This interesting study would incite clinicians to turn to primary prevention of
colorectal cancer by aspirin at least in high risk-populations. Specific
guidelines for aspirin chemoprevention would be the next logical step," Dr.
Robert Benamouzig and Dr. Bernard Uzzan of Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, France,
wrote in a commentary.
In many developed countries like the United States and Britain, doctors
recommend getting regular cancer checks using instruments that can examine the
colon from the inside.
Britain's National Health Service often opts for a procedure called a
sigmoidoscopy, while U.S. experts call for a more comprehensive screening called
a colonoscopy.
Both procedures can detect the pre-cancerous growths called polyps so doctors
can remove them before they form a tumor, but patients are reluctant to get
these uncomfortable and embarrassing tests. Some experts are hoping using cheap
drugs like aspirin may be a way to prevent colon cancer in the population.
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