Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
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Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
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On the Today programme this morning they discussed the benefits of taking aspirin to prevent cancer. The Lancet have published three studies which add to the evidence to aspirin's anti-cancer effects.
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Forums » Open clinical » General clinical » Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
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Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 21/3/2012 10:51 AM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1488
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 17/6/2013 |
On the Today programme this morning they discussed the benefits of taking aspirin to prevent cancer. The Lancet have published three studies which add to the evidence to aspirin's anti-cancer effects. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961654-1/fulltext Researchers based their new analysis on data from 51 trials involving more than 77,000 patients. BBC reports the findings: "Taking a low (75-300mg) daily dose of the drug appeared to cut the total number of cancer cases by about a quarter after only three years - there were nine cancer cases per 1,000 each year in the aspirin-taking group, compared with 12 per 1,000 for those taking dummy pills. It also reduced the risk of a cancer death by 15% within five years (and sooner if the dose was higher than 300mg) And if patients stayed on aspirin for longer, their cancer death risk went down even further - by 37% after five years." One of the doctors involved in the research admitted that he does take an aspirin a day to stave off cancer. Would you recommend this to a patient? Do you yourself take aspirin everyday to prevent cancer? Do you need more evidence?
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Re: Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 21/3/2012 4:29 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1336
First: 13/4/2010 Last: 16/6/2013 |
What the paper quoted by the BBC says is "absolute reduction 3·13 [95% CI 1·44–4·82] per 1000 patients per year" Or, to put it another way, an absolute risk reduction of 0.3% per annum so that even after 5 years on aspirin risk of cancer reduces from a lowish 2.94% to a slightly lower 1.42% - a relative reduction of 50% but an absolute reduction of only 1.52%. In addition "the effect on all-cause mortality was non-significant". So will I be taking aspirin? No, not until I develop ischaemic heart disease or cerebro-vascular disease. Everyone has to die of something. Treatments which reduce your risk of dying from x, y or z are only worthwhile if they also prolong your life in general. In this case that doesn't seem to be so. |
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Re: Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 21/3/2012 4:32 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1213
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 14/6/2013 |
Colleagues in Dundee showed nicely that aspirin doesn't reduce cardiovascular events in diabetics when used as primary prevention, but clearly there's a benefit in secondary prevention. I think numbers of 9 and 12 per 100,000 over 3 years are small in absolute terms, and require much longer follow up. But I continue to take mine, as I need secondary prevention. |
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Re: Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 21/3/2012 6:17 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1826
First: 7/3/2009 Last: 18/6/2013 |
There have been many studies that showed aspirin to be associated with reduction in cancer risk.And it works for cardiovascular events. Absolute reduction is notsuch a good predictor for the individual. It is good to calculate how many less patients will develop cancer per year, per period. But that says little about personal risk.Relative risk says how much your risk is lower than the other person that does not take aspirin, but what is the personal risk anyhow for the individual and when does that individual "get it"? There are other factors involved such as genetic background, other environmental and dietary factors etc. As yet there is no personal predictor for the individual.That will probably get better once we can ,make more from the genotyping information and once we will be better equipped to identify effects of various factors and their fingerprint.
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Re: Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 21/3/2012 6:22 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 19
First: 31/1/2012 Last: 25/4/2012 |
I won't be popping an aspirin. I think I shall mainly be eating as healthily as I can, having the odd glass of red wine, staying a non-smoker, not increasing my BMI, and maintaining my cardiovascular fitness. Most of these things work for reducing the risk of most cancers as well. Plus I won't get really bad gut rot. |
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Re: Would you take aspirin to prevent cancer?
posted at 24/3/2012 2:55 AM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 19
First: 15/2/2012 Last: 11/7/2012 |
i have not use asprin as a medicinceto treat my patients who had been diagnosed as a cancer patient, i am not sure if it is useful to them ,it depend this medicine 'mechanism ,i will pay attention about this news. |
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