Aspirin 'cuts colorectal cancer death risk'

Washington, Aug 12 (ANI): Taking aspirin on a regular basis after being diagnosed with colon cancer has been found to reduce the chances of dying from the disease, reveals a new study.

Numerous prospective, observational studies have shown that regular aspirin use is linked to a lower risk of colorectal adenoma (a benign tumour) or cancer.

However, the influence of aspirin on survival after diagnosis of colorectal cancer has been unknown.

Dr. Andrew Chan of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues studied aspirin use in 1,279 men and women with colorectal cancer that had not spread to other parts of the body.

They found that people who took aspirin regularly after their diagnosis were nearly 29 percent less likely to die from their cancer than people who did not take aspirin. These people also were 21 percent less likely to die for any reason while they were in the study lasting more than two decades.

"These results suggest that aspirin may influence the biology of established colorectal tumours in addition to preventing their occurrence," Chan said.

Aspirin is likely, at least in part, to prevent colorectal neoplasia (tumour growth) through inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2; an enzyme), which promotes inflammation and cell proliferation, and is overexpressed in the majority of human colorectal cancers, according to background information in the article.

The study has been published in the August 12 issue of JAMA. (ANI)