Thaindian News

Washington, Aug 12 (IANS) Aspirin intake tends to lower the risk of cancer mortality, says a study.

A recent pooled analysis of randomized trials looking at the effects of daily aspirin use as a preventive measure found a significant 37 percent fall in overall cancer mortality.

But the effects of long-term daily aspirin use on cancer mortality remain largely unknown, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports.

Eric J. Jacobs, Epidemiology Research Programme at the American Cancer Society (ACS) in Atlanta looked at data on 100,139 men and women who had no prior history of cancer but had been taking aspirin daily, ACS said.

The researchers found that among 5,138 participants who died because of cancer, daily aspirin usage was linked with slightly lower cancer mortality and was unrelated to the length of daily use.

“Our results are consistent with an association between recent daily aspirin use and modestly lower cancer mortality,” the authors said.

However, the estimated reduced risk of 16 percent was much lower than the 37 percent reduction seen during a five-year follow-up period in the pooled analysis.

Still, the researchers said: “Even a relatively modest benefit with respect to overall cancer mortality could still meaningfully influence the balances of risk and benefits of prophylactic aspirin use.”