14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new study conducted by investigators at the University of Leeds and the University of Newcastle, both in the UK, it would appear that consuming regular doses of aspirin can protect predisposed individuals from developing cancer – at least to some extent.
The investigation was focused on determining how long-term use of the drug affected people's long-term cancer risk, especially in the cases of those who had hereditary predispositions to develop the conditions. Some forms of cancer predisposition can be passed down from parents to offspring.
In test participants who had a family history of the disease, researchers noticed a 60 percent reduction in test subjects' long-term cancer risks. However, these positive benefits only become obvious after several years of consuming the drugs.
In a paper published in the October 28 issue of the esteemed journal The Lancet, the team says that these were the first conclusions to be exacted from a randomized controlled trial study meant to determine the link between aspirin use and cancer development.
“What we have finally shown is that aspirin has a major preventative effect on cancer but this doesn't become apparent until years later,” explains Newcastle University professor and research leader Sir John Burn. The study team also included collaborators from universities around the world.
“What surprised us was that there was no difference in the number of people developing polyps which are thought to be the precursors of cancer. But, many fewer patients who had been taking aspirin years before went on to develop cancers,” expert Tim Bishop adds.
The researcher holds an appointment as a professor at the University of Leeds. During the study, his team was responsible for the statistical analysis of the data the other researchers got a hold of.
The investigators and clinicians who conducted this study followed about 1,000 patients for lengths of time up to 10 years. Study participants were selected from a number of 43 research centers in 16 countries.
“This beneficial effect years later makes sense of all the observational studies – previous randomized trials have not been allowed to run for long enough,” Bishop adds, saying that a link between aspirin and cancer has been hinted at for nearly 20 years.
“We have succeeded in showing the benefits of aspirin because we had a lot of long term data and because Lynch syndrome is associated with rapid development of cancer. It has also demonstrated how our research community and families with inherited forms of cancer can work together to answer questions important for the whole population,” Sir John Burn concludes.