More
and more studies are pointing to the benefits of adding aspirin to conventional
cancer treatment. A new review examines this available research and asks the
question: is it "time to share [the] evidence and decision-making with
patients?"
Can a simple pill of aspirin help treat cancer? A new review investigates.
Peter Elwood, of the Cochrane
Institute of Primary Care and Public Health at Cardiff University in the United
Kingdom, is the lead and corresponding author of the new analysis, which
was published in the journal PLOS One.
Elwood explains the motivation for
the research, saying, "The use of low-dose aspirin as a
preventive in heart disease, stroke, and cancer is well established, but evidence
is now emerging that the drug may have a valuable role as an additional
treatment for cancer, too."
Indeed, in 2012, three studies published
in the journal The Lancet suggested
that a daily intake of aspirin may prevent a series of cancers in middle-aged
people.
Also, last year, Medical News Today reported on
another study that found aspirin enhances the effectiveness of an
anti-cancer drug in mice.
In this context, Elwood and team set
out to examine the benefits of aspirin intake in the treatment of cancer.
Their paper is entitled
"Systematic review update of observational studies further supports
aspirin role in cancer treatment: time to share evidence and decision-making
with patients?"
Aspirin improves
outlook by 20–30 percent
To investigate the role of aspirin
in cancer treatment, Elwood and colleagues looked at 71 studies, which summed
up over 120,000 people who had been diagnosed with cancer and started taking
aspirin in addition to their treatment.
Two independent reviewers assessed
the eligibility of the studies and examined the number of cancer-related
deaths, the incidence of metastases, and the mortality from other causes among
people in the aspirin-taking group.
The researchers then compared these
data with those of approximately 400,000 people who did not take the drug.
Of the studies included in the
analysis, 29 examined cases of colorectal cancer. In
addition, the researchers focused on breast cancer, which
featured in 14 studies, and prostate cancer, which was the subject of
16 studies.
Overall,
the analysis revealed that the chances of surviving a cancer diagnosis were
20–30 percent greater among people who took aspirin compared with those who did
not. This was true at any given point after receiving the diagnosis.
Elwood and colleagues also note that
the evidence suggests aspirin may benefit different cancers to varying extents.
Aspirin seems to reduce the risk of dying from colon cancer by 25
percent, the risk of breast cancer mortality by 20 percent, and the risk of
dying of prostate cancer by 15 percent.
Zooming in on colon cancer, for
example, one of the studies analyzed revealed that the outlook of an otherwise
healthy, 65-year-old man who receives a diagnosis of colon cancer and starts to
take aspirin is similar to that of a 60-year-old man who is in the same
situation but does not take aspirin.
Patients
should have access to the evidence
The authors concede some limitations
to their review. For instance, they write that the studies reviewed are purely
observational and some of them did not find any benefits to taking aspirin.
However, Elwood and colleagues
conclude that the findings "merit wide discussion regarding whether or not
it is adequate to justify the recommendation of low-dose therapeutic
aspirin" in the treatment of cancer.
"Evidence from further studies
is urgently required, and patients should be strongly encouraged to participate
in appropriate research studies," says the study's lead author.
"Patients with cancer should be given the evidence now
available and be helped to make their own judgment of the balance between the
risks and the benefits of daily low dose."
Peter
Elwood
"All patients should consult
their [physician] before starting new medication," adds the researcher.
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