British Nursing News Online

WWW.BNN-ONLINE.CO.UK

Friday, 19 April 2024

Wednesday, 24 August 2005 12:41

BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk

Aspirin reduces risk of bowel cancer

A Harvard Medical school study of 83,000 women has found that taking aspirin regularly for a decade or more significantly reduces the risk of bowel cancer.

However, the doses required also increased the risk of gut bleeds and researchers are planning further studies to establish whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

Of the volunteers studied, 962 developed bowel cancer over a 20-year period. But among those who regularly took aspirin, there was a 23 per cent reduction in the risk of bowel cancer compared to those who did not use the drug.

And women who took more than 14 doses of aspirin per week over a 10 year period had a 53 per cent lower relative risk.

The cancer suppressing effects of the drug appeared to be linked to dosage.

Women who took two to five aspirins per week had an 11 per cent lower relative risk; women who took six to 14 aspirins per week had a 22 per cent lower relative risk; and women who took more than 14 aspirins per week had their relative risk reduced by 32 per cent.

Dr Andrew Chan, who led the research, said: "Our study supports a possible role for aspirin in cancer prevention.

"However, any substantial impact of aspirin on cancer necessitates early initiation and prolonged, consistent use.

"Moreover, optimal chemoprevention may require substantially higher doses of aspirin than currently recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular disease."

But Ed Yong, of Cancer Research UK, warned: "High doses of aspirin are needed to reduce bowel cancer risk, and these could cause bleeding in the digestive system.

"Future studies need to weigh up all of the risks and benefits of high doses of aspirin before recommendations can be made.

"Besides taking aspirin, there are many other ways of reducing the risk of bowel cancer such as keeping a healthy bodyweight, being active and eating lots of fibre and fish and less red or processed meat."

- 0 comments on this story

Sponsored by The Nursing Portal