Improved odds seen for patients with colon, prostate, or breast tumors, but research isn’t definitive
THURSDAY, April 21, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Patients with colorectal, breast, or prostate cancers may have better survival odds if they are on a low-dose aspirin regimen, according to a review published online April 20 in PLOS ONE.
Peter Elwood, M.D., of Cardiff University in Wales, and colleagues analyzed 47 studies. Some studies found that aspirin users had better survival odds over several years, and others did not.
When the researchers combined the results of 11 studies of colorectal cancer patients, aspirin use was linked to a 24 percent lower risk of death from the disease. The results were weaker when it came to breast and prostate cancers. But overall, aspirin users had an 11 to 13 percent lower risk of dying from the diseases, the researchers found.
“We hold strongly that it is the right of patients to be given the evidence on risks and benefits, and to be encouraged to make up their own mind about prevention, and about treatment,” Elwood told HealthDay.
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