By Chris Kay
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Aspirin, a century-old medicine known
to relieve pain and prevent blood clots, also reduces the risk
of death from a variety of cancers, researchers said.
Taking 75 milligrams of aspirin a day for more than five
years cut deaths from cancer by 20 percent, according to the
study published in The Lancet medical journal today. The
researchers found the pill was associated with a reduced risk of
death from esophageal, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers.
The findings, based on data from eight trials involving
25,570 patients, expand on previous studies that found aspirin
lowered the risk of colon cancer. More studies are needed before
aspirin, which can increase the risk of internal bleeding,
should be recommended for cancer prevention, said the
researchers, led by Peter Rothwell, professor of clinical
neurology at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England.
"I have been taking aspirin for several years," Rothwell,
who founded the Stroke Prevention Research Unit at the
University of Oxford, told reporters in London yesterday. "I
personally believe this."
The risk of death after 20 years was lowered in patients
who took aspirin by 60 percent for esophageal cancer, 40 percent
for colorectal cancer, 30 percent for lung cancer and about 10
percent for prostate cancer. Aspirin doses greater than 75
milligrams didn't appear to increase the benefit. The data came
from trials whose main purpose was to determine aspirin's effect
on cardiovascular risks such as heart attack and stroke.
Medical Guidelines
Healthy middle-aged men and women may benefit the most from
taking aspirin over a long period, and medical guidelines ''may
be updated on the back of these results," Rothwell, 46, said.
"The benefit is likely to be less at 75 to 80 because
those cancers that will kill you will have already developed,"
he said.
Aspirin blocks prostaglandins, which are involved in a
range of functions such as the contraction of blood vessels and
inflammation. The eight trials reviewed by Rothwell and his
colleagues looked at the effects of aspirin on cardiovascular
disease.
Taking aspirin almost doubles the risk of internal bleeding
to one in every 2,000 to 3,000 people, Peter Elwood, an
epidemiologist at Cardiff University who has published 300
research papers over 50 years, told reporters in London. That
doesn't increase the number of deaths, and the chance of cancer
or stroke outweighs the risk from bleeding, he said.
"The man on the street knows betting odds," said Elwood,
80, who has been taking aspirin since 1974 and wasn't involved
in the study. People should "evaluate the risks for
themselves."
Colon Cancer
A low daily dose of aspirin taken over an average of six
years reduced colon cancer risk by 24 percent and the likelihood
of dying from the disease by 35 percent, according to a separate
study authored by Rothwell published in October by The Lancet. A
trial published in the medical journal Gut in September found
that 75 milligrams of aspirin taken daily lowered the risk of
colon cancer by 22 percent after just one year.
The effects of the drug over a longer period are unknown,
and further data on the risks of taking aspirin for tumors that
affect women, such as breast cancer, is needed, Rothwell said.
"The problem is you can't do a 30-year trial," he said.
"It's tough to do a trial and keep patients compliant for more
than a few years."
The authors of the study plan to publish further research
into the link between aspirin and cancer prevention next year,
they said in an e-mailed statement.
The researchers funded the study through their own budgets.
Rothwell and his four co-authors disclosed to the journal that
they had individually received payments from drugmakers
including AstraZeneca Plc, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH,
Sanofi-Aventis SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Servier
Laboratories Ltd. that were unrelated to the study. Bayer, based
in Leverkusen, Germany, is the inventor of aspirin.
"This study remains a very important new development in
our understanding of how to prevent cancer in general,"
Alastair Watson, a professor of translational medicine at the
University of East Anglia who wasn't involved in the study, said
in an e-mailed statement.
For Related News and Information:
Health stories from the U.K.: TNI UK HEA BN <GO>
Today's most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
Top stories about science TNI SCIENCE WWTOP <GO>
Bloomberg Drug Database: BDRG <GO>
News about medical research: NI MEDICAL <GO>
Top Stories: TOP <GO>
--Editors: Kristen Hallam, Phil Serafino
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Kay in London at +44-20-3216-4703 or ckay5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at +33-1-5530-6277 or pserafino@bloomberg.net
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Aspirin, a century-old medicine known
to relieve pain and prevent blood clots, also reduces the risk
of death from a variety of cancers, researchers said.
Taking 75 milligrams of aspirin a day for more than five
years cut deaths from cancer by 20 percent, according to the
study published in The Lancet medical journal today. The
researchers found the pill was associated with a reduced risk of
death from esophageal, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers.
The findings, based on data from eight trials involving
25,570 patients, expand on previous studies that found aspirin
lowered the risk of colon cancer. More studies are needed before
aspirin, which can increase the risk of internal bleeding,
should be recommended for cancer prevention, said the
researchers, led by Peter Rothwell, professor of clinical
neurology at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England.
"I have been taking aspirin for several years," Rothwell,
who founded the Stroke Prevention Research Unit at the
University of Oxford, told reporters in London yesterday. "I
personally believe this."
The risk of death after 20 years was lowered in patients
who took aspirin by 60 percent for esophageal cancer, 40 percent
for colorectal cancer, 30 percent for lung cancer and about 10
percent for prostate cancer. Aspirin doses greater than 75
milligrams didn't appear to increase the benefit. The data came
from trials whose main purpose was to determine aspirin's effect
on cardiovascular risks such as heart attack and stroke.
Medical Guidelines
Healthy middle-aged men and women may benefit the most from
taking aspirin over a long period, and medical guidelines ''may
be updated on the back of these results," Rothwell, 46, said.
"The benefit is likely to be less at 75 to 80 because
those cancers that will kill you will have already developed,"
he said.
Aspirin blocks prostaglandins, which are involved in a
range of functions such as the contraction of blood vessels and
inflammation. The eight trials reviewed by Rothwell and his
colleagues looked at the effects of aspirin on cardiovascular
disease.
Taking aspirin almost doubles the risk of internal bleeding
to one in every 2,000 to 3,000 people, Peter Elwood, an
epidemiologist at Cardiff University who has published 300
research papers over 50 years, told reporters in London. That
doesn't increase the number of deaths, and the chance of cancer
or stroke outweighs the risk from bleeding, he said.
"The man on the street knows betting odds," said Elwood,
80, who has been taking aspirin since 1974 and wasn't involved
in the study. People should "evaluate the risks for
themselves."
Colon Cancer
A low daily dose of aspirin taken over an average of six
years reduced colon cancer risk by 24 percent and the likelihood
of dying from the disease by 35 percent, according to a separate
study authored by Rothwell published in October by The Lancet. A
trial published in the medical journal Gut in September found
that 75 milligrams of aspirin taken daily lowered the risk of
colon cancer by 22 percent after just one year.
The effects of the drug over a longer period are unknown,
and further data on the risks of taking aspirin for tumors that
affect women, such as breast cancer, is needed, Rothwell said.
"The problem is you can't do a 30-year trial," he said.
"It's tough to do a trial and keep patients compliant for more
than a few years."
The authors of the study plan to publish further research
into the link between aspirin and cancer prevention next year,
they said in an e-mailed statement.
The researchers funded the study through their own budgets.
Rothwell and his four co-authors disclosed to the journal that
they had individually received payments from drugmakers
including AstraZeneca Plc, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH,
Sanofi-Aventis SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Servier
Laboratories Ltd. that were unrelated to the study. Bayer, based
in Leverkusen, Germany, is the inventor of aspirin.
"This study remains a very important new development in
our understanding of how to prevent cancer in general,"
Alastair Watson, a professor of translational medicine at the
University of East Anglia who wasn't involved in the study, said
in an e-mailed statement.
For Related News and Information:
Health stories from the U.K.: TNI UK HEA BN <GO>
Today's most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
Top stories about science TNI SCIENCE WWTOP <GO>
Bloomberg Drug Database: BDRG <GO>
News about medical research: NI MEDICAL <GO>
Top Stories: TOP <GO>
--Editors: Kristen Hallam, Phil Serafino
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Kay in London at +44-20-3216-4703 or ckay5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Phil Serafino at +33-1-5530-6277 or pserafino@bloomberg.net
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