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ASPRIN FIGHTS COLON CANCER: STUDY

Taking low-dose Aspirin can help reduce deaths caused by colon cancer by more than a third, British researchers have found.

Their report in Friday's online issue of the medical journal The Lancet reviewed the 20-year results of four trials involving more than 14,000 people that were enrolled in a study on use of ASA (acetylsalicylic acid) to prevent stroke and heart attack.

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in developed countries, with about one million new cases and 600 000 deaths worldwide each year.

In the study, Prof. Peter Rothwell of University of Oxford in the U.K. and his-co-authors looked at colorectal cancer incidence and mortality among people who were given regular, lower-range European Aspirin doses of between 75 milligrams ("baby Aspirin") and 300 milligrams.

There seemed to be no advantage to taking more than a baby-sized dose.

Previous studies looked at the prevention benefits of a daily dose of high does, at least 500 milligrams of ASA.

"Anyone with any risk factors such as a family history [of colon cancer] or a previous polyp should definitely take Aspirin," said Rothwell said.

The finding also "tips the balance" for anyone considering Aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes, he said.

Help for high-risk patients

The results mean that for every 100 people who take low-dose ASA daily, one case of colorectal cancer was prevented, and 1 in 70 deaths from the disease was avoided.

Those findings are comparable to how statins for cholesterol prevent one heart attack for every 100 people who take them.

The other interesting aspect of the study is that the types of colorectal tumours that were prevented were those higher up in the colon, which are harder to detect with screening tests, said Mark Elwood of the B.C. Cancer Agency in Vancouver, commenting on the study.

Specialists warn, however, that there are risks associated with ASA even at low doses. It is a matter of patients balancing those risks and potential benefits in consultation with their own doctor, Elwood suggested, noting the evidence was based on people age 50 and older.

If taken in high doses over a long period, ASA can irritate the stomach, intestines and bowel, causing lesions and major bleeding.

"This interesting study would incite clinicians to turn to primary prevention of colorectal cancer by Aspirin at least in high risk-populations," Dr. Robert Benamouzig and Dr. Bernard Uzzan of Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, France, wrote in a journal commentary accompanying the study.

The commentators called for specific guidelines on using ASA for colon cancer prevention.

No funding was provided for the study. Rothwell and some of his co-authors have been paid for work by several drug makers who produce anti-clotting drugs such as ASA.

story was on the CBC NEWS website.... Do your research people....