Low doses of aspirin taken daily can go far in reducing cancer deaths, a new study published recently in the medical journal The Lancet has found. However, some doctors say otherwise.
Patients followed by the study who took small amounts of aspirin on a daily basis were 34 percent less likely to die from cancer five years after they were monitored, the report said.
“Daily aspirin reduced deaths due to several common cancers during and after the trials,” the study concluded. “Benefit increased with duration of treatment and was consistent across the different study populations.”
The study examined eight trials of more than 25,000 patients that lasted four years or longer with follow-ups after the trial. During the patient studies, aspirin was found to reduce cancer deaths by 21 percent.
Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, is a common drug used to treat everything from slight pain and fever to inflammation. The drug’s side effects, which range from accelerated heartbeat and breathing to bloody vomit or stool, and stomach bleeding, have some doctors warning against taking the medicine.
However, the newest study introduces new merits to taking aspirin that could outweigh its potential risks, the study’s lead author Peter Rothwell of Oxford University said.
“Previous guidelines have rightly cautioned that in healthy middle-aged people the small risk of bleeding on aspirin partly offsets the benefit from prevention of strokes and heart attacks, but the reductions in deaths due to several common cancers will now alter this balance for many people,” Rothwell said, according to Reuters.
Some doctors say that the study is not strong enough to start recommending that people take aspirin.
“I definitely think we wouldn’t want to make any treatment decisions based on this study,” Dr. Raymond DuBois, a cancer prevention specialist of the University of Texas M.D., told the Associated Press.
The study was designed to look at how the drug reacts to cardiovascular risks, not cancer risks, DuBois told AP.
“Balancing the risks and benefits of aspirin is really important and probably something that needs to be done on an individual basis,” Ed Yong, the head of health information for Cancer Research UK, said, according to the news agency. He added that patients should speak to their doctor before taking aspirin on a regular basis.
Patients followed by the study who took small amounts of aspirin on a daily basis were 34 percent less likely to die from cancer five years after they were monitored, the report said.
“Daily aspirin reduced deaths due to several common cancers during and after the trials,” the study concluded. “Benefit increased with duration of treatment and was consistent across the different study populations.”
The study examined eight trials of more than 25,000 patients that lasted four years or longer with follow-ups after the trial. During the patient studies, aspirin was found to reduce cancer deaths by 21 percent.
Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, is a common drug used to treat everything from slight pain and fever to inflammation. The drug’s side effects, which range from accelerated heartbeat and breathing to bloody vomit or stool, and stomach bleeding, have some doctors warning against taking the medicine.
However, the newest study introduces new merits to taking aspirin that could outweigh its potential risks, the study’s lead author Peter Rothwell of Oxford University said.
“Previous guidelines have rightly cautioned that in healthy middle-aged people the small risk of bleeding on aspirin partly offsets the benefit from prevention of strokes and heart attacks, but the reductions in deaths due to several common cancers will now alter this balance for many people,” Rothwell said, according to Reuters.
Some doctors say that the study is not strong enough to start recommending that people take aspirin.
“I definitely think we wouldn’t want to make any treatment decisions based on this study,” Dr. Raymond DuBois, a cancer prevention specialist of the University of Texas M.D., told the Associated Press.
The study was designed to look at how the drug reacts to cardiovascular risks, not cancer risks, DuBois told AP.
“Balancing the risks and benefits of aspirin is really important and probably something that needs to be done on an individual basis,” Ed Yong, the head of health information for Cancer Research UK, said, according to the news agency. He added that patients should speak to their doctor before taking aspirin on a regular basis.
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