Aspirin & other painkillers may lower risk of colon cancer

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According to a new research, taking low-dose painkillers daily for a number of years has shown to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer.

The research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine stated that long-term use of both Nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin can help reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, particularly medicine that are for cyclooxygenase (COX)-2.

Coauthor Dr. John Baron, professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, stated that although NSAIDs have had human trials for cancer prevention, it is not known if the same could be said with aspirin.

The study revealed that NSAIDs can reduce risk of colorectal cancer similar with aspirin. However, patients need to take the medicine for a long time.

They protect against cancer, but you have to take the drugs for a long period of time before the cancer-preventive effects become manifest," Dr. Baron told Medscape.  "During that period, we show that you need to take aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs consistently."

This means that if there are days or periods where the patient stops or starts, the protective effective of the medicine is reduced.

"The fact that this sort of induction period is required means that it takes some time for the aspirin to affect the carcinogenic process and then, in another delay, that the stopping of that process takes a while to show up," Dr. Baron explained. "If you could imagine that you damn the Danube in Serbia, Vienna doesn't see any difference for, I don't know, a week. It takes that long for the change to flow up the river; that is similar for carcinogenesis."

For the study, researchers analyzed more than 10,000 colorectal cancer patients that were taking low-dose aspirin for 5 years. According to the report by the Belfast Telegraph, NSAIDs such as ibuprofen cut the risk for bowel cancer by 30% to 45%, while NSAIDs with Cox 2 were found to be most effective.

However, the study had limitations. The researchers didn't account for other factors that increased the risk of colorectal cancer such as alcohol habits, obesity, lifestyle habits, family history of colorectal cancer and eating habits.

According to Dr. Soren Friis from Danish Cancer Society Research Center, the lead author of the study, the findings of their study should not be taken too seriously as the results are preliminary.

Dr. Friis told Reuters that colorectal patients should not be taking aspirin or non-aspirin NSAIDs as there may be side effects and other unfounded serious health effects. He encouraged the public to talk with their physicians.