Low-dose aspirin lowers cancer risk

Low doses of aspirin taken to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke also lower the risk of colon cancer.

Previous studies have shown that people who take high doses of aspirin are less likely to develop colon cancer as well as little growths called polyps that can develop into cancer. But aspirin itself can be dangerous in some people, rarely causing deadly bleeding in the stomach and intestines. Other studies have found that a related painkiller, ibuprofen, can also reduce colon cancer rates among people who take it regularly over the long term.

Researchers analysed four previous studies in 14,033 people from UK and Sweden, half of them taking low-dose aspirin for heart disease. The lower doses of aspirin are considered much safer. Over about 18 years of follow-up, they found 2.8 percent of the volunteers had developed colon cancer. Aspirin reduced the 20-year risk of colon cancer by 24 percent and lowered the risk that a patient would die from colon cancer by 35 percent.