An international study suggests that taking 600 mg of aspirin per day reduces the risk of colon cancer in obese people with Lynch syndrome.
After having recognized the beneficial effect of aspirin in the prevention of cardiovascular accidents and its effectiveness in relieving rheumatic pain, a study reveals today that this painkiller would also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in some obese people.
These works, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, focuses on an international cohort of patients with Lynch syndrome, also known as Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer. This rare genetic pathology increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer before the age of 50. People with this syndrome should benefit from specific monitoring from the age of 20.
By following a thousand participants for more than 10 years, researchers at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have shown that people affected by this syndrome are twice as likely to develop colon or endometrial cancer. if they are obese.
600 mg of aspirin per day
However, when comparing the group of participants taking 600 mg of aspirin per day for 2 years to the placebo group, the researchers observed a reduction in this risk. In fact, whether they were obese or not, the volunteers had the same risk of developing colon cancer.
“These findings are important for people with Lynch syndrome, but in reality they affect us all,” says John Burn, professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University and responsible for this international study. Many people struggle with being overweight and these data suggest that the added risk of obesity can be reduced with aspirin. “
For this specialist, this work shows that the appearance of cancer is associated with an inflammatory process. “Obesity increases the inflammatory response. One of the explanations provided by our study is that aspirin suppresses this inflammation, which opens up new avenues of research into the cause of cancer, ”he says.
A molecule far from harmless
However, the study authors stress the need for further work to confirm the protective effect of aspirin. They are currently looking for more than 3,000 volunteers (obese or not) around the world to compare the effect of 600 mg of aspirin per day with that of lower doses.
They also recall that aspirin is not a harmless drug and advise against taking it without medical advice. Indeed, it can cause hemorrhages of the digestive tract which can lead to anemia or even ulcers.
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