Aspirin every day, the new reflex to beat colon cancer? In early April, Dutch researchers suggested that regular aspirin intake in patients operated on for colon cancer lowered the risk of cancer-related death by 50%. In a new study, a professor of cancer genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, qualifies this protective effect of aspirin. This would only work on patients who produce a high level of a specific enzyme.
For the purposes of the study, 127,865 volunteers were followed for three decades. Tissues from 270 colon cancer patients were analyzed. As a result, people who had a low level of the 15-PGDH enzyme could benefit from the protective properties of aspirin. On the other hand, those who displayed a high level of the enzyme had their risk of colon cancer halved. These conclusions, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, join those of the Dutch researchers. They argued that aspirin would help prevent the tumor from spreading in patients with early-stage cancer.
But the Americans go further. They imagine they can target people who can benefit from the preventive effect of aspirin. All it takes is a simple blood test to check the levels of the 15-PGDH enzyme.
