Aspirin use cuts threat of digestive tract cancers: study
22 April, 2020
Regular aspirin use reduces the risk of digestive system cancer 20 to 40 percent, according to findings published the other day that bolster growing evidence the common analgesic can help avoid the disease.
A review of 113 recent studies covering more than 210,000 patients showed that bowel cancer risk dropped 27 percent, esophageal cancer by 33 percent, stomach cancer by 36 percent, and gastric cardia -- where the stomach connects to the windpipe -- cancer by 39 percent.
For pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, there is a nearly twenty five percent reduced risk after five years among persons who used aspirin in comparison to those who didn't, researchers reported in Annals of Oncology.
"These findings recommend there's a beneficial aftereffect of aspirin in the prevention of bowel and other cancers of the digestive tract," said senior author Carlos La Vecchia, a professor of epidemiology at the School of Medicine in Milan.
About 175,000 persons die from bowel cancer in europe every year, about 100,000 of them between the age of 50 and 74.
"If we assume regular utilization of aspirin increases from 25 to 50 percent in this generation, this would mean 5,000 to 7,000 deaths from bowel cancer, and between 12,000 and 18,000 new cases, could be avoided," La Vecchia said in a statement.
Aspirin, that may cause stomach bleeding, is less often recommended or approved in patients over the age of 75.
A substantial body of research during the last decade has established a strong statistical link between long-term aspirin use and a lower incidence of different varieties of cancer, however the new study is the largest to date focused on the digestive system, the authors said.
The majority of the studies examined by La Vecchia and colleagues were made to test or examine aspirin's capacity to lessen heart disease.
The longer persons take aspirin and the higher the dose, the lower the risk of getting cancer, the brand new research found.
Overall, a daily "micro-dose" of 75 to 100 mg was associated with a 10 percent drop in cancer incidence, while a daily 325 mg dose slice the risk 35 percent.
For bowel cancer, the chance transpired by four percent after twelve months of daily use, by 11 percent after 3 years, 19 percent after five years, and 29 percent after ten years.
"Taking aspirin for preventing bowel cancer, or any other cancers, should be done in consultation with a health care provider," La Vecchia said. "Those people who are at risky of the disease are likely to gain the best benefits."
The findings applied equally to individuals, and across all regions that data was drawn.
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