Take 'aspirin' can improve a type of colon cancer

Take 'aspirin' can improve a type of colon cancer

The 'aspirin' acetylsalicylic acid, has been associated with a beneficial effect on some types of cancer, especially colon cancer . However, its use in the treatment of these conditions has not been extended due to several factors: first, the risk of gastric bleeding occur, and because the specialists know what are the characteristics of patients who would benefit aspirin use.

Now, American and Japanese scientists have made a new test in which they found that aspirin can prolong the lives of those colon cancer patients who have a mutation in their specific cells, namely an alteration in the PIK3CA gene, which occurs in 20% of colorectal tumors and is associated with inflammatory processes (acting precisely on aspirin).

The test, which has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, has had the participation of nearly 1,000 patients, and the authors of the work, 97% of those affected by colorectal cancer with PIK3CA mutation who took aspirin still alive five years after diagnosis, compared with 74% of patients with the same mutation who did not take the drug. In 80% of cases that was not present the above mutation, no benefit of aspirin intake was observed.

The results of the research, expert opinion, are very interesting because we have identified a molecular-marker-PIK3CA gene mutation and has been linked to reducing the mortality rate in patients with this disorder with anti-inflammatory action aspirin. Furthermore, also the PIK3CA gene is mutated in other types of tumors such as breast cancer .

Are required, however, further studies to confirm these findings in a larger sample of patients because aspirin is a drug whose continued use may involve risks to health, and still can not recommend its use either as a preventive method against colon tumors, nor for treatment of patients already diagnosed.