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Aspirin could play a vital role in cancer treatment, according to a study. Peter Elwood of Cardiff University, who led the study, said the use of low-dose aspirin as a preventive agent against heart disease, stroke and cancer was well established, cancer also.
The systematic review, which looked at the survival of 1,200,000 cancer patients taking aspirin, versus 4,000,000 who did not, showed that at any time after the diagnosis of certain cancers, the proportion of patients still alive was 20-30% higher among those taking the drug. The spread of cancer to other parts of the body has also been significantly reduced in patients using aspirin.
One of the colon cancer studies reviewed by the researchers suggests that a non-diabetic man of about 65 years of age who is taking aspirin would have a prognosis similar to that of a five-year-old man. years who does not take any. For a woman of the same age with colon cancer, the addition of aspirin could result in a similar prognosis in a woman four years younger.
Nearly half of the studies included in the review involved patients with colon cancer and most other studies involved patients with breast or prostate cancer. Very few studies have been conducted on patients with other less common cancers, but overall, the pooled data for all cancers suggest a benefit of aspirin.
"Cancer patients should be provided with available evidence and helped to get a sense of the balance between the risks and benefits of a low daily dose. Evidence from other studies is urgently needed and patients should be strongly encouraged to participate in appropriate research studies. All patients should consult their GP before starting a new treatment, "Elwood concluded.
The study is published in Plos One Medicine.
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First published: Sep 30, 2018 1:19 PM IST
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