Aspirin and cancer – not quite, but nearly

There needs to be a lot more research in to this we will get there soon.

Very interesting email leaving us waiting for more information when it has been proven. Thank you.

Your article was concise,nice and clear. Thank you.

my dad took aspirin for over 38 years he died age 84 not of cancer but of bad lungs due to working in the pub and club trade i myself have taken aspirin for over 15 years until my doctor said stop taking them for no good reason

if aspirin helps to lower the risk of cancer then it could only be a good thing.I had my breast removed three and half years ago from cancer and have another year and half before I get the all clear.

Hi Roman, thanks for your question. The trials looking at the health effects of aspirin used low doses of aspirin every day for at least 5 years, and they looked at aspirin alone, rather than in any other combination. This isn’t the same as the use of aspirin or aspirin-containing drugs to relieve a headache or when taken in any other pattern, and we wouldn’t be able to make any comments about your situation I’m afraid. We would recommend talking to your doctor about the medication you are taking as they may be able to offer some advice.

Nick, Cancer Research UK

The main agent inside Aspirin tablets is acetylsalicyl acid, I guess. I regularly take Acifein tablets, which contain also Paracetamolum (the same dose – 250 mg). So does Acifein have the same effect against cancer? Thanks for your reply!

I have been taking daily asprin, 75mg daily since 2007 as a precautionary measure following diagnoses of Left Bundle Branch Block. I was confirmed to have seminoma testicular cancer in 2011. In my case asprin was not effective against the particular type of cancer that developed in me.
As some might say; it could have been worse?

I have been taking aspirin now for more than 30 years. I started after a friend of mine had a massive heart attack aged 40 in 1980. I have had no problems at all, but I have always used soluble aspirin and always after food. I had bypass surgery in 1995 but did not have a heart attack beforehand, and if I suffered angina 2 aspirin always relieved it. Not everyone can take aspirin – my wife included – but if you use it as I do you reduce the chance of stomach problems. My sister took the coated ones, but they caused problems in the small intestine.

Very interesting. Has any work been done on the effects of aspirin substitutes? I am taking Clopidogrel which my pharmacist tells me fulfills the role of aspirin but works in a different way.

I’ve followed the Aspirin research closely for some time and because I lost my mum relatively young (55 yrs old) to bowel cancer I’ve been taking 75 mg aspirin daily for the last 3 yrs (I’m now 43). I consulted my GP first and she was happy for me to take them and I’m also on regular colonoscopy screening. I’m a nurse and I will hopefully recognise side effects, should the arise, but so far I have had none. I will definitely carry on taking aspirin.

my then GP recommended all his patients over 40 took 75mg of soluble aspirin, and reduced eating ham or bacon, in fact any preserved meats to once a week. I have followed this advice for the last 30years with no ill effects

Hi
Very interesting report. I had a stroke 7 years ago when i was 50. I have been prescribed aspirin as part of my preventative medication. To see aspirin fall into the risk catagory for causing strokes has caused made me wonder if this was the correct decision

very interesting news

A few years ago my brother was taking prescribed low dose aspirin. Over a year or so he became very tired and weak. He had been bleeding internally due to the aspirin and his haemoglobin was so low that he almost died.None of us in the family take aspirin as a result. I do think people should be made aware of this. Liz Steel

Seems a fair and balanced analysis, which is needed, thank you.

I’ve been taking 75mg daily for 4 years now, since turning 70. Will continue.

I had a heart attack in 1994 and began taking soluble aspring; 250 reducing to 75mg. I did not stop be having bowel cancer in 2009 which an operation cured and all has been well since. Curious. I still continue to take 75mg daily and have no side effect at the age of 84

I have been taking soluble aspirin for over 22 years following a heart attack. To date I am not aware of any side effects.

I took aspirin until atrial fibrillation and now have warferin. My aspirin was prescribed after I had cancer.

Both my parents died with cancer so I started taking one 75mg soluble asprin per day when I was 50. I am 85 now and as far as I know free from cancer and side effects.Fingers crossed.

I read of these early reports, did a little bit of my own research & decided that I would start to take asprin daily. I (& my wife) have been taking 75mg enteric coated asprin a day for the last six years with no noticable downside. I did not consult my doctor about it as they clearly could not give me a do or don’t. As we read above there is no definitive yes or no I just feel that the possible pros outweigh the possible cons & for 85p a month why not. So I plan to continue indefinitely. (I’m 60)

I decided to take one aspirin alternate days . That is half of my GP’s presvription. He knows this and doesn’t dissent.. I don’t have any idea what is best, so I’ll watch for the next reliable research results.

we have bowel cancer in our family which i have the gene several have died young plus my mother had several strokes i started taking asprin at 35 and have taken one 75mg since now 68 and keeping fingers crossed and toes i am ok all though rather large

I have always taken Aspirin when required. It is the only over the counter drug that can stop my headaches. I have tried all the other types of drug and they are of no use, so I am a great believer in Aspirin. I know off the stomach problems that use of Aspirin can cause but in my case the benefits out-way the risks. The research seems to show that this is the case when it comes to Cancer prevention.

Thank you. That’s a very honest and balanced explanation. I personally have doubts because my dad took a quarter of an aspirin every day for around 30 years and it was strongly suspected that the constant regular use gave rise to the liver tumour that killed him, therefore I’m not a big fan. However, I’m sure there ARE benefits for some people and I hope the research will give many people a better chance.

And if the experts don’t really know then the GP will be no better placed to advise one way or the other. So until that point is reached ” I’m out”

Your GP should be consulted before taking regular doses of a Aspirin.Family history would be discussed . My Doctor
always advises me to get in touch with him ASAP with regards to any
changes in by bodily functions and is always discussed whenever I attend the practice

thank you for advising the facts , from a neutral standpoint

Sir, I had a heart attack in 1988 & a second one in 1993. I have been taking 75 mg dose of dispersible aspirin, daily since 1988 till to date. I was 43 at the time of my first heart attack. After 1993, I have not had any heart problem at all. I have had regular screening for bowel cancer after I turned 60. There is no sign of bowel cancer. Earlier this year I had a complete check up for lung cancer. None was detected. I have displayed no discernible symptoms of any kind of ulcers. So, personally, I would be quite happy to go on taking 75 mg dose of aspirin daily or until my GP advises me to discontinue it.

My mum took aspirin every day from 1975-2013 after she had an angina attack, but sadly she died of lung cancer in 2013. So I’m not convinced aspirin helps stop cancer.

I’ve been taking Aspirin every day now for the past 2 years mainly for migraines along with Sodium Valproate. My migraines have stopped. I’m 52. I hope taking Aspirin is doing me good. A recent visit to the hospital I found out my blood was quite watery.

Well done very clear and helpful article

I think its certainly something to be further investigated, this has happened before , that a drug that has been given to treat one ailment , has been found to benefit people with other medical problems.

I feel that it is a gamble to start taking aspirin to try to prevent cancer at the moment as the studies are not at all conclusive yet. Also people may think because they are taking aspirin they need not look after their health so much ie. not being careful with their diet, not smoking and not doing enough exercise etc.

Some Asthmatics – including me – are allergic to aspirin, and it can cause an asthma attack. I think this should be mentioned in your articles.

Don’t take it unless necessary had family members as well as myself they are no longer here and I suffered a bleed that nearly cost me my life!

Interesting! I’ve been on a dose of one 75gm aspirin a day since I had a stroke about 15 years ago, and am quite thankful, because as I am overweight (have struggled with my weight for years, although I do eat carefully now) I understand, rightly or wrongly, that overweight can in some circumstances, lead to cancer. At the time of the stroke my cholesterol was 9.5! but due to simvastatin 40gm daily dose and the aspirin to keep my blood thinner, I’m still alive at the age of 71. My cholesterol usually runs around 2-3 nowadays, and I have much to be thankful for. Maybe the aspirin is helping me? I do appreciate your emails to me and keep up the good work. The sooner we can eradicate this disease the better. Thank you.

very interesting. I have been taking 75mg aspirin dailing since I first heard that it was thought to protect against cancer. My mother had 2 mastectomies for breast cancer but survived and lived to 90 but one of my sisters died after 12 yrs fighting the disease.

Very interesting. I know from experience that Aspirin (Salicylic acid) can help protec against heart attacks; but this is a new one on me. I hear similar claims for chewing raw cloves of garlic – but again, not sure. The main difference is that the garlic is natural; and aspirin derives from the bark of silver birch trees (No one is suggesting chewing this). Could be. But we need a lot more information and cerdible data.

I would always use caution with Aspirin due to the side effects, I use Fruitflow as a natural alturnitive.

“At the moment, frustratingly, there’s no clear, definitive answer to these questions. And until there are, we’re discouraging people from stocking up on their own supplies of aspirin without seeking medical advice first.
So if you’re worried about your risk of cancer, and want to do something about it, your first port of call should always be your GP.”
So, given the unknowns, what could a GP advise? Better to make your own mind up and hope for the best!

I am 52 and having watched my Mother die from rapid cervical cancer in 2009 I have been taking 75mg asprin daily since. I believe if you can get past 3 yrs with no ill effects you should be fine. Not only that they are dirt cheap so its not much of a risk to take.

Nice article, well-written, and with the real numbers properly explained. But I’m not enthusiastic about the ‘consult your GP’ conclusion. In my experience, GPs vary tremendously on their level of updates regarding new science.

Even a very well-informed GP won’t really know more about this result than someone who read this article and the Medscape article from last month that it refers to. So the only benefit of their advice will be their knowledge of your individual genetic conditions and blood chemistry, and how they interact with the study.

Now, how many people here under 60 can say ‘My GP is intimately familiar with my blood chemistry and genetic peculiarities’? Didn’t think so. But even if you could, the interactions between those and the study’s conclusions isn’t even known yet, so your GP won’t know that answer either. He or she will just offer an opinion based on their own experiences and prejudices.

I’d change the ending to ‘take your chances or wait for further research’, and leave the poor GPs out of it.

Very good info

Encouraging report

Expert opinion: aspirin and cancer – the unanswered questions
Category: Science Blog December 7, 2010
In the light of today’s headlines about aspirin and cancer, we spoke to one of our leading scientists Professor Janusz Jankowski, who’s running a clinical trial – AspECT – looking at whether aspirin can prevent oesophageal and bowel cancer. Here are his opinions and concerns about the latest findings:

Aspirin’s ability to prevent cancer, especially cancers of the digestive system (oesophagus, stomach and bowel cancers) is well known.

But before we can recommend that people take aspirin, there are several important things to learn about whether long-term low-dose aspirin use is beneficial overall.

How common are side-effects?

Aspirin has several serious side effects. Most importantly, aspirin can increase the chances of developing stomach ulcers – which can cause bleeding. In people over 75, this can be fatal. The true frequency of aspirin-related stomach ulcers varies depending on the method used to measure it – it can be anywhere from 0.1 to 2 per cent of people taking aspirin, every year. However, drugs called ‘proton pump inhibitors’ can reduce the likelihood of bleeding from stomach ulcers caused by aspirin by up to fifty per cent.

Aspirin has other side-effects. In very rare cases, it can increase the chances of bleeding in the brain. About one in a hundred people taking aspirin have an allergic reaction. And about one in ten find it can make their asthma worse.

Who will benefit?

Secondly, because we’re all genetically different, and have different lifestyles, aspirin probably doesn’t prevent cancer in everyone who takes it. A reasonable estimate, based on the available research, is that about a quarter (25 per cent) of people will benefit – but this figure may be as low as a fifth (20 per cent). So the majority of people taking aspirin may not in fact benefit from it.

This ‘aspirin resistance’ seems to be widespread, and we don’t yet know what causes it. So we don’t know who should take aspirin. To clarify this, we need large genetic studies to discover who will benefit from low-dose aspirin.

What dose?

Thirdly, we don’t know what dose of aspirin is best. While the current paper has looked at 75mg of aspirin we don’t know that 150 or even 300mg isn’t better. This is vital – the commonest reason drugs don’t work is the dose is wrong.

A premature rush to using aspirin in too small a dose in the population could result in many people being deprived of benefit.

How long should you take it for?

Fourth, we don’t know how long a person has to take aspirin to get a protective effect.

The current paper indicates an unusually rapid response for this: five years. This is unique and in many ways doesn’t fit with how we understand cancer develops.

In particular, in order to stop cancer developing we believe aspirin must be taken at a very early stage in cancer’s development, before it becomes ‘full-blown’ cancer. This prevents the small groups of abnormal cells obtaining more genetic changes that will eventually become cancer. We believe this takes about 10 to 15 years.

What has been done by Cancer Research UK in this area?

The trial I work on – AspECT – was specifically designed to measure rates of oesophageal cancer, bowel cancer and deaths from heart disease.

The trial is split into four groups:

people only given a low-dose proton pump inhibitor
people only given a high-dose proton pump inhibitor
people given a low-dose proton pump inhibitor with 300mg aspirin
people given a high-dose proton pump inhibitor with 300mg aspirin
To date, the team behind the trial haven’t revealed any obvious differences between these four groups. .

While we strongly endorse this recent study, much caution is needed. The study looked at trials that focused on heart disease rather than cancer, and that might have biased the results.

For example, the number of deaths from cancer of the digestive system was just 182 out of almost 20,000 patients. There were only 23 deaths from oesophageal cancer. That’s a very small number to be trying to draw firm conclusions from.

Patients on these trials, especially those who were taking aspirin, might also have had medical complications that resulted in them being diagnosed at an earlier stage (when cancers are easier to treat successfully).

In short, before making any broad recommendations, we need trials like AspECT to report their findings. AspECT’s preliminary data will be available in 2012. These will cover issues of risk benefit, genetic stratification for response, dose and length of therapy, and should go a long way towards answering these crucial questions

What really needs to be understood is the mechanism by which aspirin can be having such varied effects – are they real, or as the article discusses are a complicated combination of other factors making it look like aspirin is doing this

Having survived colon cancer aged just 46 in 1997 I would love to believe I could cut my risk of it reoccuring but I cannot tolerate any anti-inflamatory painkillers so it’s not an option for me. I was not overweight and did not consume a lot of processed meats so the doctors thought I was low risk. Since then I’ve lost my younger brother and a cousin (just 43 when he died) so unless we are just unlucky I believe there’s a genetic factor involved so how can there be any help for that?

My mother decided to take half an aspirin every day thirty years ago with no doctor’s advice. Although very frail now at 96 she still plays a good game of bridge and has just about got the hang of her ipad.

My husband had bowel cancer three years ago and has been taking 75mg Aspirin every day since. He did speak to his GP who more or less told him to take it if he felt it would help. Not helpful advice. All scans have been clear since.

I guarantee my GP would Google the internet before he advised me what to do.

A few years ago it was reported in the press that taking a low dose aspirin daily could help prevent bowel cancer. We started breaking the standard dose aspirin into quarters and taking one quarter a day which seemed like quite a good idea. May start doing this again in light of recent reports. Can’t imagine my GP will have much of an opinion on it-don’t have very much faith in GP’s being experienced in this at the moment. . . but interested to learn of other’s experience of asking their GP’s?

i’ve been taking aspirin everyday for the last five years

taking a small aspirin daily is better than being poisoned by chemo