Aspirin in middle age may help prevent cancer
Wed April 29th, 2009
By Jane Collingwood
Taking aspirin daily could help forty-somethings reduce their risk of
cancer, researchers reported today.
The evidence for daily aspirin is inconclusive, so Professor Jack Cuzick of Queen Mary, University of London, UK, and colleagues carried out a review of the available evidence for Cancer Research UK.
Previous research has linked aspirin with reduced levels of bowel, breast and some other types of cancer. This may be because aspirin blocks the effects of the COX enzymes - proteins involved in inflammation and found at high levels in several types of cancer. However, anti-inflammatory drugs can sometimes cause gastrointestinal bleeding and stomach ulcers.
The review looked at a large number of studies involving more than 50,000 participants.
Professor Cuzick states: "Taking aspirin regularly in your mid 40s could maximise the effect this drug has on preventing cancer. Taking aspirin at this age, which is about the time pre-cancerous lesions usually begin to develop, may be the best time to stop the disease from progressing to actual cancer.
"And, as the risk of serious side-effects of aspirin greatly increase after 60 years old, taking long-term treatment before this age will help to minimise these side-effects.
"But many questions need to be answered before we would advise regular use of aspirin for cancer prevention. Future research and more clinical trials are needed to better identify those people who will benefit most from aspirin treatment.
"Some studies did not show a preventative effect, but the follow up was less than ten years, so it may have been too early to see the effect."
The research is published in the Lancet Oncology.
Cuzick, J. et al. Published on the website of the Lancet Oncology April 29, 2009.