Use of aspirin in the long term is associated with a reduction in digestive cancer incidence, according to research presented at the 25th UEG Week in Barcelona, Spain from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.
Researchers examined data on more than 600,000 people, comparing patients who were prescribed aspirin over a long period (average duration was 7.7 years) and patients who were not aspirin users.
They found that long-term aspirin users showed a:
● 47 percent reduction in liver and oesophageal cancer incidence
● 38 percent reduction in gastric cancer incidence
● 34 percent reduction in pancreatic cancer incidence
● 24 percent reduction in colorectal cancer incidence
"What should be noted is the significance of the results for cancers within the digestive tract, where the reductions in cancer incidence were all very substantial, especially for liver and oesophageal cancer," said Professor Kelvin Tsoi, lead researcher from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.