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Aspirin 'reduces risk of dying from bowel cancer'
April 25, 2012
A daily dose of aspirin could help to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer.
Taking aspirin following a diagnosis of bowel cancer may help to reduce a person's chances of dying, new research suggests.
Scientists looked at 4,500 bowel cancer patients who were diagnosed in The Netherlands between 1998 and 2007.
They found that those who took aspirin for any length of time following their diagnosis had a 23 per cent reduced risk of dying from bowel cancer, compared with those who did not take aspirin.
And those who took a daily dose of aspirin for at least nine months post-diagnosis cut their chance of dying by 30 per cent.
The findings are likely to be welcomed by doctors and patients alike, as aspirin is so cheap that patients would not even have to get a prescription or rely on their private medical insurance.
Study author Dr Gerrit-Jan Liefers, from the Leiden University Medical Centre, said: "Our findings could have profound clinical implications.
"In this study, we showed the therapeutic effect of a widely-available, familiar drug that costs mere pennies per day."
Earlier this month, the charity Bowel Cancer UK claimed that the number of deaths from the disease could be cut by nearly two-thirds within the next 15 years if the government follows certain recommendations.
These include increasing the number of people who are screened for bowel cancer and boosting collaborative working between hospitals, community and social care providers throughout the UK.
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