Earlier this year, researchers at The City College of New York reported they developed a new hybrid aspirin that could be the latest potent cancer-fighter. Now, another study offers more evidence of a positive association between aspirin and its cancer-fighting properties. In what is encouraging news for mesothelioma patients, American Cancer Society researchers report a daily aspirin may actually help prevent cancer.
Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer, caused by exposure to asbestos, that invades the lining of the lungs. Many of the cancer treatments are ineffective against the disease, and many experts agree, that the best way to fight the cancer is through prevention.
The American Cancer Society reports that while current guidelines for the use of aspirin in disease prevention consider only its cardiovascular benefits, it has been shown to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and recurrence of adenomatous polyps. The ACS reports it now has evidence that daily aspirin use may also reduce the incidence of all cancers.
In a review of six primary prevention trials of daily low-dose aspirin, researchers found that aspirin use was associated with an approximately 20% reduction in overall cancer incidence between 3 and 5 years after start of aspirin use and a 30% reduction during follow up more than 5 years later. Cancer mortality was also reduced during study follow up that happened more than 5 years after the start of aspirin use, in analyses that included 34 trials of daily aspirin at various doses.
"The accumulating data from randomized clinical trials provide an exciting opportunity to reconsider the potential role of aspirin in cancer prevention," said the authors.
Although evidence showed "that daily aspirin at doses of 75 mg and above might lower both overall cancer incidence and overall cancer mortality," the authors were quick to point out that more research is needed and several important questions remain unanswered. The exact magnitude of the overall cancer benefit is the key question that needs to be addressed.
Close to 3,000 Americans die from the cancer yearly, and just as many are diagnosed with the disease. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, it can be treated with varying degrees of success through the use of surgical procedures, chemotherapy and radiation.
