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Aspirin can cut the threat of cancers

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The Government gave its clearest signal yet that it is ready to use aspirin to tackle the disease in its latest annual review of cancer treatment.

It comes after several scientific studies appeared to show taking the painkiller could reduce the risk of developing cancer by up to 50 per cent.

A recent study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed people who had taken aspirin at least once a month in the past year were 49 per cent less likely to develop the most common form of liver cancer.

Scientists have been working on an international statement on using aspirin to prevent cancer, and the Department of Health signalled in the report it was ready to accept their recommendations.

The report, Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, notes: “An international consensus statement on the prophylactic use of aspirin in the general population is due to be published shortly.

“The statement is likely to say that accumulating evidence supports an effect of aspirin in reducing overall cancer incidence and mortality in the general population, and these benefits are larger and most clearly established for some gastrointestinal cancers.”

But the report notes there are are arguments against the policy, adding: “In 2013 we will consider what the international consensus statement means for policy in England, such as when the benefits might be outweighed by the disadvantages – particularly, the increased risk of gastric bleeds – and how best to manage the use of aspirin in the general public for this purpose.”

Jessica Harris, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Research suggests that regularly taking low doses of aspirin can reduce the risk of developing and dying from cancer.

“But aspirin has a range of serious side-effects, including internal bleeding, and at the moment it’s not clear whether the benefits would outweigh the harms, what the right dose might be, or which group of people are most likely to benefit.

aspirin

Aspirin

“An expert group is reviewing the evidence with the aim of providing greater clarity about whether there are groups of people who might benefit from taking aspirin. And Cancer Research UK is funding a number of clinical trials testing the benefits of using aspirin to both prevent and treat cancer.


“People should consult their doctors before deciding to take aspirin regularly, because there are common conditions and medications which can mean that it may not be suitable for everyone.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said a statement on aspirin and cancer would be published shortly.

“The Department is working with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and other experts like Cancer Research UK to consider the next steps on the benefits of aspirin on preventing cancer,” she said.

“This will give us a better understanding of the benefits and potential harms/side effects from low-dose aspirin.

“The research is clear that aspirin is beneficial for people who have had a heart attack or stroke in preventing future events. There continues to be well established evidence to support this. But there are also risks for some people, so anyone considering taking aspirin regularly should talk to their GP first.”

Are statins the new wonder drug

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Last year, the ubiquitous blood-thinning painkiller aspirin — which protects people from heart attacks and strokes by reducing the clumping action of platelets that clot and block blood flow to the heart and brain —was shown to also protect against bowel cancer, breast cancer and stop prostate cancer spreading to the bones, along with lowering death from it.

The latest drug inching up the ‘Wonderdrug Hall of Fame’ is the statin, the cholesterol-buster that makes bad cholesterol plummet enough to lower heart attacks by 60% and stroke by 17%. This week, it was reported to be effective in treating breast cancer, write US researchers in the journal Cell.

Benefiting most from statins were women with breast cancer who carry mutations of the p53 gene, which normally suppresses cancerous cells. The mutation, however, promotes cancer growth, causing rapid, invasive growth of tumours, found researchers from Columbia University. Treating breast cells carrying mutant p53 genes with statins — such as simvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin and pravastatin — reduced their invasive growth.

More than half of all cancers carry p53 gene mutations, which make statins a potential cure for most cancers.

Studies in the past have shown statins could be an arsenal in the clutch of treatments — chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, among others — used to fight cancer. Last year, a study in the journal Cancer said that men on statins had lowered risk of prostate cancer returning by 30%. A 2005 trial showed that patients taking statins for over 5 years lowered their risk of colorectal cancer by almost half.

statins-lancastria

Statins have been hailed as a “wonder drug”

At any given time, 28 lakh people have cancer in India, which is the fourth largest killer after heart disease, respiratory diseases and childhood diarrhoea. Ten lakh (one million) people develop cancer in the country each year, with the disease projected to rise five-fold — 2.8 times because of tobacco use and 2.2 due to ageing — by 2025.


Traditionally, statins are prescribed to lower bad cholesterol after changes in lifestyle — lowering weight, exercising, dietary changes, quitting smoking — fail to meet the cholesterol-lowering targets. The indications for its use, however, have broadened over the past decade. Cancers apart, statins have a favorable effect on inflammation, chronic high blood pressure, dementia, lung disease and cataracts.

The Heart Protection Study, the world’s largest trial of cholesterol-lowering treatment, showed preventative effects of statin use in diabetics. The ASTEROID trial (2006), using only a statin in high doses, lowered bad cholesterol dramatically and showed disease regression in the arteries.

This, of course, does not mean you pop statins like a multivitamin (which incidentally, has been shown to be inadequate in meeting nutrient deficiencies). It can cause muscle pain and cramps, and rarely, neuromuscular degeneration and loss of muscle function similar to symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Like any other medicine, it works best under prescription, which also explains why sales cross several billion dollars a year.