Aspirin is used extensively as a blood thinner to lower risk of heart attack. Interestingly a new study suggests that aspirin has another positive side effect- that of lowering risk of dying due to prostate cancer. In other words, prostate cancer progression to lethal state is lowered.
There was a 40% reduction in risk of death due to prostate cancer among patients who took aspirin, according to urologic Oncology Fellow and principal researcher Dr Christopher Allard. The results of the study were presented on January 4th 2016 at the American Society Of Clinical Oncology in San Francisco.About the study:
The study began in 1982 to study the effect of aspirin and beta carotene on cancer.- 22,000 men were included in the study
- 3,400 developed prostate cancer
- 400 developed lethal prostate cancer
Further, it was found that
- Men who were not diagnosed with prostate cancer but who took aspirin at least thrice a week had a 24% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer
- Men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and who regularly took aspirin had a 39% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer.
Dr Sumanta Pal, spokesperson for ASCO and an Oncologist found this study ‘intriguing' but added a note of caution that patients should seek expert medical help before taking aspirin.
Other top research publication on aspirin and prostate cancer in 2015 that add substance to above conclusion includes -
2. “ Impact of aspirin on clinical outcomes for African American men with prostate cancer undergoing radiation” by Osborn VW, Chen SC, Weiner J, Schwartz D and Schreiber D. This study found that the use of aspirin improved biochemical outcomes as well as metastasis of African men with prostate cancer.
References:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/264296422. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26704566
3. http://www.cancer.org/research/acsresearchupdates/cancerprevention/aspirin-and-cancer-prevention-what-the-research-really-shows
4. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/11/10/1108.full.html
Source-Medindia