Colon cancer aspirin research
People with a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer could cut their chances of developing the disease in half by taking a daily dose of aspirin, European researchers have found.
Their work might lead to other treatments by helping researchers understand how aspirin combats colon cancer, one of the top three cancers in rich countries.
The European researchers followed more than 1,000 people with Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation that makes them vulnerable to cancers in the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. The syndrome accounts for about 5% of all colon cancers.
About half of the study participants were given aspirin daily, while the other half got placebo pills for about four years. In the group that got aspirin, six people developed colon cancer, versus 16 in the group that got placebos.
