Taking a regular dose of aspirin reduces the long-term risk of cancer by around 60 per cent in people with a family history of the disease, research has revealed.
Pancreatic Cancer - All About the Disease, its Diagnosis and Management
Pancreatic cancer often involves its exocrine part. It grows aggressively, and often detected late. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Pancreatic cancer often involves its exocrine part. It grows aggressively, and often detected late. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Late last year an analysis of people who had taken part in the early aspirin trials to prevent heart attacks and strokes showed that in subsequent years they developed fewer cancers. The missing piece of the jigsaw was a randomised trial specifically looking at its effect on cancer.
The study involved Professor Diana Eccles and Gillian Crawford from the University of Southampton's Cancer Sciences Division and Wessex Clinical Genetics Service at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Eccles was a member of the international steering group on this ground-breaking study, while Gillian had a major involvement in recruitment and data collection across much of the central Southern area of England, including Southampton and Oxford, for the trial.
Oral Cancer | Mouth Cancer - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Oral cancer is a cancer that develops in any part of the mouth. It is more common in men over 40.
Oral cancer is a cancer that develops in any part of the mouth. It is more common in men over 40.
The study involving scientists and clinicians from 43 centres in 16 countries followed nearly 1,000 patients, in some cases for over 10 years.
Advertisement
About Cancer in Women
Cancer is one of the frequently talked about and most feared disease that falls under the genre of lifestyle diseases that have evolved, rather rapidly, in the past two decades.
Cancer is one of the frequently talked about and most feared disease that falls under the genre of lifestyle diseases that have evolved, rather rapidly, in the past two decades.
The study focused on people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder which affects genes responsible for detecting and repairing damage in the DNA. Around half of these people develop cancer, mainly in the bowel and womb. Bowel cancer is the second commonest cause of cancer death in the UK, being responsible for 16,000 deaths a year.
Advertisement
By 2010 there had been 19 new colorectal cancers among those who had received aspirin and 34 among those on placebo. The incidence of cancer among the group who had taken aspirin had halved - and the effect began to be seen five years after patients starting taking the aspirin.
A further analysis focused on the patients who took aspirin for at least two years and here the effects of aspirin were even more pronounced: a 63 per cent reduced incidence of colorectal cancer was observed with 23 bowel cancers in the placebo group but only 10 in the aspirin group.
Looking at all cancers related to Lynch syndrome, including cancer of the endometrium or womb, almost 30 per cent of the patients taking the placebo had developed a cancer compared to around 15 per cent of those taking the aspirin.
However, Professor Sir John Burn from Newcastle University who led the international research collaboration adds: "Before anyone begins to take aspirin on a regular basis they should consult their doctor as aspirin is known to bring with it a risk of stomach complaints including ulcers."
The international team are now preparing a large-scale follow-up trial and want to recruit 3,000 people across the world to test the effect of different doses of aspirin.
Source-ANI
