Wonder Pill Aspirin May Prevent Cancer
- From: "tony" <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:46:43 +0800
Wonder pill aspirin may prevent cancer
IAN JOHNSTON
SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
IT IS a painkiller, it helps prevent heart attacks - and now it appears
prolonged use of aspirin can even stop people from getting cancer.
If it was developed today, the century-old drug might struggle to get
through clinical trials because it can cause major damage to the lining of
the stomach along with severe internal bleeding.
But a major study published yesterday gave yet another reason to keep making
aspirin, which is also used to treat strokes and cataracts and boost the
chances of having a baby while undergoing IVF treatment.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Boston studied more than 80,000 female nurses who took part in a
major health study for more than 20 years.
They found that taking aspirin at least twice a day for more than ten years
lowered the risk of getting colon cancer by 53 per cent, according to a
report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Taking a lower
dose of between one and two pills a day resulted in a 22 per cent lower
risk.
However the researchers estimated that for every one or two cases of cancer
prevented by taking high doses of aspirin, about eight people would develop
serious gastro-intestinal bleeding.
Dr Andrew Chan, of Massachusetts General Hospital, who was the lead author
of the scientific paper on the study, said: "Our study did find a protective
effect of long-term aspirin use on risk of invasive colorectal cancer, but
only at dosage levels considerably higher than those used to prevent
cardiovascular disease." Heart disease patients tend to take "baby" aspirin,
which is one-quarter of the dose of full-strength aspirin, daily.
Previous research has linked aspirin with preventing the recurrence of colon
cancer, but this is the first time it has been shown to reduce the risk of
getting the disease in the first place and what strength of dose is required
to have a significant effect.
"Several earlier studies have found that, among patients with a history of
colon polyps or cancer, regular aspirin treatment prevents the recurrence of
precancerous polyps," Dr Chan said.
"However, the ability of aspirin to reduce the long-term incidence of
invasive cancer has not been well-demonstrated."
He told The Scotsman that further work was continuing to develop a new form
of aspirin that did not have such severe side-effects.
"There may be some clinical applications down the road," Dr Chan said. "I
don't think we can currently recommend people take aspirin, especially at
this high dose. There may be particular people who have an especially high
risk of getting colorectal cancer for whom it may be worth taking, but that
sort of treatment needs to be discussed carefully with a doctor."
Out of the 83,000 people included in the nurses health survey, there were
962 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed over a 20-year period.
Derek Napier, chief executive of the St Andrews-based Association for
International Cancer Research, said doctors and patients would have to
balance the relative risks.
"If aspirin has a significant effect in lowering the chance of getting
colorectal cancer, it may well be people who are at risk of that may feel
the possibility of side-effects is worth the risk," he said.
Ed Yong, Cancer Research UK's science information officer, said more work
was needed to "weigh up all of the risks and benefits" of high doses of
aspirin before recommendations can be made.
And Mr Yong pointed out: "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."
A 5,000-YEAR-OLD WONDER DRUG
ASPIRIN has been used in one form or another for some 5,000 years.
In about 3,000BC, Egyptians used myrtle leaves and willow - both of which
contain salicylic acid, the main ingredient in aspirin - to relieve muscle
pain.
In 1763, the Rev Edward Stone, of Oxfordshire, carried out trials of willow
bark extract on people suffering from a fever and found it helped them.
Aspirin was patented in 1898 by Felix Hoffman, a German working for Bayer,
the pharmaceutical company, and he is credited with its invention two years
earlier.
However, some claim it was actually invented by Hoffman's boss, Arthur
Eichengrun, but that this was written out of history by the Nazis because
Eichengrun was Jewish.
A landmark study in the 1980s showed the drug produced a major reduction in
the risk of having a heart attack.
Aspirin is also used to treat strokes, cataracts and blindness. Some studies
have shown it can double the chances of an IVF pregnancy and delay the onset
of senility, while its blood-thinning properties also mean it can be used to
prevent deep-vein thromboses.
Today, about 100 billion aspirins are taken every year throughout the world.
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1831722005
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