A daily low dose of aspirin could be effective, not just as a preventive measure, but as an additional treatment for those with cancer, according to 3 studies led by Oxford University researchers.
According to Professor Peter Rothwell of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, “What we have now shown is that aspirin also has short-term effects, which are manifest after only 2-3 years.” He continues, “In particular, we show that aspirin reduces the likelihood that cancers will spread to distant organs by about 40-50%.”
One study, published in The Lancet, showed that aspirin reduced the risk of death from cancer by 15%. Over time the risk reduction increased, reaching 37% for those on aspirin for 5 years or more. Daily low-dose aspirin also reduced the occurrence of cancer. The incidence of cancers dropped 23% in men and 25% in women, after 3 or more years of use.
The second study, also published in The Lancet, reports on aspirin’s effect on cancer metastasis. Professor Rothwell and colleagues found that aspirin reduced risk of the spread of cancer to other parts of the body by 36% over the average 6.5-year course of the studies. The effects of aspirin were independent of age and sex.
A third study, published in The Lancet Oncology, also looked at aspirin’s effect on cancer risk. This time the researchers used observational studies rather than the randomized trials associated with the first 2 studies. Rothwell and colleagues found that the observational studies also showed a similar reduction in risk.
According to Rothwell, “In terms of preventing spread of cancer, the data suggest that the effect is largest in adenocarcinomas. These include cancers of the gut, particularly colorectal cancer, some cancers of the lung and most cancers of the breast and prostate.”
Rothwell continued, “In terms of preventing the longer-term development of new cancers, the largest reductions are seen in risk of colorectal cancer and esophageal cancer, with smaller effects on several other common cancers.”
When assessing aspirin’s health benefits, it is critical to account for the increased risk of stomach bleeding when taking the drug.
However, researchers also showed that the risk of a fatal stomach bleed does not increase with aspirin use, compared with placebo. In fact, they found a majority of patients make a full recovery from stomach bleeds caused by aspirin. On the other hand, the conditions that aspirin helps to prevent, such as cancer, are much more likely to be disabling or fatal, the researchers contend.
Rothwell stated, “We are not at the stage of recommending aspirin use in everybody, but the guidelines on use of aspirin in the healthy middle-aged population certainly need to be updated in order to take into account the effects on the risk and outcome of cancer as well as on the risk of heart attacks and strokes.”
Source: University of Oxford.