Aspirin may prevent throat cancer .....

BOSTON, Mass., USA: U.S. researchers have found evidence that taking anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin in particular reduces the risk of Barrett's esophagus (BE), a medical condition that is the largest known risk factor for esophageal cancer. In a recently published study, they found that aspirin users were 44 percent less likely to have BE compared with nonusers.
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment analyzed 434 patients diagnosed with BE between 1997 and 2010 for factors that might be used in the screening and management of the condition, including age, sex, body mass index, medical and social history, as well as medications.

Among other findings, the study revealed that current aspirin users had a lower risk for developing BE than nonusers and that men were more than three times more likely to develop BE than women.

"The protective effect of aspirin use appears robust because the analyses suggests a dose–response relationship in which high-dose aspirin was significantly associated with decreased BE risk," said Dr. Chin Hur, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of GI Health Outcomes Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Gastrointestinal Unit.

Although previous research has analyzed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin chemoprevention for esophageal cancer or BE progression, the current study is one of the few to explore whether the drugs can prevent BE.

Hur warned however that it would not be advisable at this stage to start taking aspirin at higher doses if preventing BE is the only goal. "If additional data confirms our findings and an individual at higher risk for development of BE and esophageal cancer also could derive additional benefits, most notably cardiovascular, aspirin could be a consideration," he added.

According to the World Health Organization, esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, with 481,000 new cases estimated in 2008, and the sixth most common cause of death from cancer, with 406,000 deaths. This type of cancer is two to four times more common among men than women, and more than 80 percent of the cases and of the deaths have occurred in developing countries, the organization stated.

The study was published in the July issue of the Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal.

Dr. Caroline Wallace DDS
Complete Dental Care
Salem, Virginia