Could aspirin really prevent colon cancer?

Article Abstract:

In the December 5, 1991 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report the results of a major study indicating that people who take aspirin regularly are less likely to die of colon cancer. This result is exciting, since 12 percent of all cancer deaths are due to colorectal cancer, and few advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. To be sure, previous studies have suggested a link between aspirin and lower risk of colorectal cancer, but other studies have failed to find similar relations. The present study is especially large and well controlled. However, the results should not be taken at face value. For example, the present study tabulated the rates of death from colon cancer, not the incidence of colon cancer. For example, taking aspirin might cause an early colorectal cancer to bleed, to be detected earlier, and perhaps have a greater probability of being cured. The resulting decrease in deaths among aspirin users would give the erroneous impression that aspirin is actually protecting against the cancer. There are, however, indications from animal experiments that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), of which aspirin is an important example, provide actual protection against some forms of experimentally induced cancer. The mechanisms for this protection are not understood. It would be important to learn if aspirin really does protect against colorectal cancer; in this report the risk of death from colon cancer was found to be almost halved among the people who regularly took aspirin. Nevertheless, such a study would be difficult to perform, and would take many years and tens of thousands of subjects. Furthermore, it is questionable whether middle-age people would be willing to avoid aspirin use, since it is already clear that aspirin does indeed reduce the risk of heart attack. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Editorial, Prevention, Physiological aspects, Aspirin

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Cardiovascular events associated with rofecoxib in a colorectal adenoma chemoprevention trial

Article Abstract:

A report on the cardiovascular outcomes associated with the use of the selective COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib in a long-term, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial is presented to determine the effect of three years of treatment with rofecoxib on the risk of recurrent neoplastic polps of the large bowel in patients with a history of colorectal adenomas. It was concluded that the use of rofecoxib was associated with an increased cardiovascular risk among patients with a history of colorectal adenomas.

United Kingdom, Science & research, Research, Usage, Cardiovascular diseases, Risk factors, Drug therapy, Rofecoxib

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Prognosis of cancers associated with venous thromboembolism

Article Abstract:

Patients who are diagnosed with cancer at the same time or after an episode of venous thromboembolism have a worse prognosis than other patients with the same type of cancer. Venous thromboembolism occurs when a blood clot forms in a large vein and then travels to another part of the body.

Prognosis, Cancer, Thromboembolism

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