Taking aspirin every other day cuts the risk of certain cancers by more than 40 per cent, according a study. Harvard researchers have found that even a very low dose of the painkiller drastically reduces the odds of bowel and stomach cancers. Women who took one 100mg tablet every other day were 43 per cent less [...]

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Taking aspirin every other day ‘cuts cancer risk by more than 40%’

By Sophie Borland
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Taking aspirin every other day cuts the risk of certain cancers by more than 40 per cent, according a study. Harvard researchers have found that even a very low dose of the painkiller drastically reduces the odds of bowel and stomach cancers.

Women who took one 100mg tablet every other day were 43 per cent less likely to get bowel cancer and 36 per cent less at risk of stomach cancer, after a period of 20 years. Recently a number of studies have shown that a daily dose of aspirin drastically cuts the risk of developing cancer, and of tumours spreading once diagnosed.

But until now it was not known whether the pills had similar, preventative effects when taken less frequently. Although aspirin has been dubbed the wonder drug as it protects against heart attacks, strokes and cancer, it also causes stomach bleeds and ulcers in some patients.

Taking a low dose of the drug every other day however would mean such patients would be less likely to succumb to these side effects. Researchers from Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston, the US, looked at the records of 39,876 women over 45.

Half were told to take one 100mg aspirin tablet every other day for ten years while the remainder were given a placebo – a dummy drug. At the end of the study the researchers compared how many women from each group had developed cancer and found no difference. But when they looked at them again eight years later – 18 years after the study had started – they found the odds of developing bowel or stomach cancer amongst those on aspirin were significantly lower.

They think it may take several years for aspirin’s beneficial effects to ‘kick-in.’ Although experts are unsure exactly how it protects against cancer, they think it may stop certain harmful chemicals or enzymes in the body from working. In particular they think it blocks the Cox-2 enzyme – which exists on all our cells and is known to trigger cancer.

But in spite of her findings, lead researcher Professor Nancy Cook said patients should not start taking aspirin every day or every other day. Addressing the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool, she said: ‘There are side effects. They are rarely fatal but they do cause the need for hospitalisation.

‘The side effects do depend on the dose which is one reason we were testing taking 100mg every other day.’ She said her future research would try and identify which patients were most at risk of bowel and stomach cancer who would be most likely to benefit. Jessica Harris, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Research has shown that taking regular low doses of aspirin can reduce the risk of developing and dying from cancer although the effect takes about 5-10 years to show.

‘But aspirin has a range of serious side-effects, including internal bleeding, so other than for those at very high risk, it’s not clear whether the benefits would outweigh the harms, or what the best dose might be.’

© Daily Mail, London




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