In a recent study published in ecancermedicalscience, researchers found patients with a wide range of cancers who take aspirin as part of their treatment could help to reduce their risk of death by 20%.
They carried out a systematic review of 118 published studies in patients with 18 different cancers.
They found that in a total of about 250,000 patients with cancer who reported taking aspirin, this was linked to a reduction of about 20% in cancer deaths.
The review said the available body of evidence on its efficacy and safety “justifies its use” as a supplementary treatment in a wide range of cancers—and patients should be informed of this.
The study is from Cardiff University. One author is Professor Peter Elwood.
The team leader has studied the effects of aspirin for more than 50 years.
In recent years, they have been struck by the actions of aspirin on the biological mechanisms relevant to cancer—and these seem to be the same in many different cancers.
In the study, they reviewed the scientific evidence available on the use of aspirin as an additional treatment for a wide range of cancers.
Overall, they found that at any time after a diagnosis of cancer, about 20% more of the patients who took aspirin were alive, compared with patients not taking aspirin.
The team also considered the risks of aspirin taking and wrote to an author on each of the papers asking about any stomach or other bleeding episodes.
A small number of patients had experienced a bleed, but there was no evidence of any excess deaths attributable to bleeding in the patients on aspirin.
The study suggests that not only does aspirin help to cut the risk of death but it has also been shown to reduce the spread of cancer within the body—so-called metastatic spread.
There is now a considerable body of evidence to suggest a big reduction in mortality in patients with cancer who take aspirin—and that benefit appears to not be restricted to one or a few cancers.
Aspirin therefore appears to deserve serious consideration as an adjuvant treatment of cancer and patients with cancer and their carers should be informed of the available evidence.
The researchers also stress that aspirin is not a possible alternative to any other treatment.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about this anti-inflammatory drug may stop spread of cancer and findings of these 5 unhealthy things cause most cancers.
For more information about cancer and your health, please see recent studies about common heartburn drugs linked to stomach cancer, heart and kidney disease and results showing that this diet linked to high colon cancer risk.
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