High efficiency of a very cheap drug against a form of cancer that enrolls 2 million people every year. The conclusions of a major study

A daily dose of aspirin can substantially reduce the risk of recurrence of some types of colorectal cancer after surgery, according to a major study on the protective effects of this daily analgesic, writes The Guardian.

Swedish researchers found that people who took a small daily dose of aspirin, after removing the tumor, had a probability twice as young to face, in the next three years, with cancer relapse than patients who have taken placebo.

The study involved cancer patients whose tumors had specific genetic mutations that made them susceptible to the anticancer properties of aspirin. About 40% of patients with colorectal cancer have such mutations.

“I think this will change the clinical practice,” said Prof. Anna Martling, who led the “Alascca” medical study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. “If you had these mutations, the risk of cancer recurrence was reduced by more than 50%. It is a huge effect,” said the researcher.

Nearly 2 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year worldwide, with over 40,000 cases in the UK. Many of these people are undergoing surgery to remove tumors, but despite the progress made in chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, cancer can reappear if cancer cells remain.

Intestinal cancer rates are increasing worldwide in people under 50 and, although the reasons are not clear, scientists suspect that fast food, obesity, lack of physical activities and toxins produced by intestinal bacteria play an important role in this type of cancer.

Previous studies have shown that aspirin can help prevent colorectal cancer in people at high risk due to hereditary conditions, such as Lynch syndrome. But it was not clear whether the drug reduces the chances of cancer recurrence after surgery.

Professor Anna Martling and her colleagues recruited over 3,500 patients who were removed colorectal tumors in hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Genetic tests performed on 2,980 of patients showed that 1,103, or 37%, had mutations in genes that make up a biological path called PI3K, directly involved in colorectal cancer.

Patients with mutations had, randomly, took 160 mg of aspirin per day or a placebo for three years after the operation. Those who took aspirin had a 55% lower probability of cancer recurrence with those who took placebo, the study showed.

The banal medicine seems to protect against cancer by reducing inflammation, by interference with the PI3K path and by reducing the activity of the platelets in the blood, which can surround the tumor cells and can hide them effectively from the patient's immune system.

Martling also said that the results underlined the need to perform genetic tests for all cases of colorectal cancer, so that patients who could benefit from the benefits of administering aspirin can be recommended. “It is a large -scale drug and extremely cheap,” she said.

Aspirin has been on the market for more than a century, but the long -term administration of the drug is still risks. In the study, four patients presented “severe adverse events” potentially aspirin, including allergic reactions, gastrointestinal bleeding and brain bleeding. Four patients died in both groups of the study, one of the deaths being possible caused by aspirin.

The details of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UK research director, said: “Prevention of cancer cases saves lives, and finding new ways to do this is essential for our efforts to overcome cancer. There is more and more evidence that in certain groups of people, aspirin in low doses can provide intestinal cancer.”

“The CAPP3 study, funded by Cancer Research UK, has shown a similar effect in people suffering from Lynch syndrome, a hereditary condition that increases the risk of intestinal cancer and other types of cancer. We need wider and higher quality studies, such as CAPP3 and this recent research, to confirm who are more people who would benefit from aspirin. Much and better, without fear of cancer, ”added Catherine Elliott.