An Aspirin A Day Reduces Cancer Death Risk By 21%

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Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology;  Lung Cancer;  Colorectal Cancer
Article Date: 07 Dec 2010 - 7:00 PDT


Daily aspirin reduces the risk of dying of cancer by 21% after five years, and the benefits appear to increase with time, persisting for twenty years in many cases, British researchers revealed in an Article published in The Lancet after gathering data from eight clinical studies - a meta-analysis - involving 25,570 participants who had been on aspirin therapy for at least four years. In all cases the trials compared aspirin to a placebo.

They also found that dying from any cause (not just cancer) was 10% lower for those on 75mg of aspirin per day.

The doses of aspirin in the eight trials ranged from 75mg to 500mg per day. The trials studied were carried out originally for the prevention of vascular events.

Earlier studies had suggested there might be benefits from long-term aspirin therapy against colon cancer. This is the first study, the authors explain, to show that aspirin protects against other cancers, such as esophageal, gastrointestinal, lung, brain, and pancreatic cancers.

The researchers found that daily aspirin treatment reduced the risk of death of several common cancers during and after the trials. The lower risk grew with time and persisted throughout different study populations.

The authors say their findings have implications for aspirin use guidelines, as well as understanding the process of tumor development (carcinogenesis) and the impact of drug intervention.

They investigators explained that their findings led them to believe that the benefits of daily aspirin for those aged 45 years or more far outweigh any side-effect risks. Long-term aspirin's link to stomach and intestinal bleeding risk has historically put many doctors off prescribing it. We know that low-dose long-term daily aspirin can protect from cardiovascular events and stroke.

Long term daily aspirin was found to:

• Reduce 20-year prostate cancer risk by 10%
• Reduce lung cancer risk by 30%
• Reduce bowel cancer risk by 40%
• Reduce esophageal/throat cancer risk by 60%

The article suggests wider use of daily aspirin could potentially save thousands of lives in relation to cancer mortality alone.

Study leader, Professor Peter Rothwell at Oxford University, England, has been on daily aspirin himself for the last two years. He believes his team's findings will have a major impact on public health policy. He adds that daily aspirin appears to be more beneficial than screening.

The researchers think that the best time to start daily aspirin would be when the risk of most cancers starts to rise significantly; during a person's mid-40s.

Professor Chris Hawkey, President of the British Society of Gastroenterology said:

"The study from Prof Rothwell represents strong evidence that aspirin can prevent the development of cancer, especially in the gastrointestinal tract, It is of more than academic interest: it should stimulate a re-evaluation of the role of aspirin with wider use of the drug. At the same time, we are acutely aware that aspirin is not without risks. In particular, it can cause internal ulcer bleeding and patients on aspirin should take a protective anti-ulcer drug such as omeprazole.

But aspirin is not the only measure needed to reduce the risks of cancer. Lifestyle measures such as remaining slim, not smoking or drinking to excess and eating a healthy diet all have an important part to play. People should not ignore warning symptoms like rectal bleeding especially if associated with tummy pain, change in bowel habit or weight loss."

"Effect of daily aspirin on long-term risk of death due to cancer: analysis of individual patient data from randomised trials"
Prof Peter M Rothwell FMedSci, Prof F Gerald R Fowkes FRCPE, Prof Jill FF Belch FRCP, Hisao Ogawa MD, Prof Charles P Warlow FMedSci, Prof Tom W Meade FR
The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 7 December 2010
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62110-1

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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