Low-dose aspirin can cut colon cancer risk, study says

September 17, 2010

By Eva von Schaper Bloomberg News / September 17, 2010

MUNICH — People who take even a very low dose of aspirin every day for five

years can cut the risk of developing colon cancer by almost a third, a study

said.

Taking as little as 75 milligrams of aspirin a day — less than in a so-called

baby aspirin — lowered the risk 22 percent after just a year, according to

research published yesterday by the medical journal Gut. The reduction in risk

rose to 30 percent after five years, the study found.

Doctors already know aspirin and related painkillers can protect the colon. This

study showed for the first time that a low dose is sufficient to ward off

cancer, and that the drug needs to be taken for at least five years to get the

full benefit.

The study defined daily intake as consumption of pills at least four days a week

for at least a month.

" Our results are applicable to the general population and not just high-risk

groups,'' the authors, led by Malcolm Dunlap, a scientist at the University of

Edinburgh, said in the paper.

The study analyzed data from 2,279 patients with bowel cancer and 2,907 healthy

people in Scotland.

The study found that patients taking drugs belonging to a class of nonsteroidal

anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDS, also had a lower risk of developing the

disease. The class of medicines includes ibuprofen and naproxen, both of which

are available without a prescription.

olon_cancer_risk_study_says/

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