It is medicines with acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), which, among other things, are found in Treo and Bamyl, that have been studied.
"This is going to change how we treat colon cancer. We can with a very cheap and well-tried medicine halve the risk of recurrence and improve survival for a large patient group", says Anna Martling, professor of surgery at the Karolinska Institute and one of the researchers behind the study, in a press comment.
The risk decreases
The results attracted attention when she presented the findings at a cancer congress in San Francisco in January this year. Now the results have been published in the scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine.
It shows that daily treatment with a low dose of acetylsalicylic acid significantly reduces the risk of recurrence within three years in patients who have been operated on for colorectal cancer. It concerns patients with a certain type of genetic changes in the tumor.
The study included 3,500 patients with colon and rectal cancer in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Of these, 40 percent had the current genetic change. The patients were then randomized to either receive 160 milligrams of acetylsalicylic acid daily or a placebo for three years after they were operated on.
"Fantastic result"
According to the study, the risk of recurrence decreased by 55 percent in those who received aspirin compared to the placebo group.
I usually am cautious when it comes to research results. But I am not this time. These are fantastic results. According to our calculations, this will be able to save 200 to 300 lives per year, just in Sweden, says Anna Martling to Läkartidningen.
