polyp preventer
by Michelle Coppedge

spirin is used more than any other over-the-counter pain reliever in the world. You know that it helps headaches and muscle strain, and perhaps you've heard about its benefits to the heart — but did you know it may also have an effect on cancer? Researchers led by principal investigator Robert Sandler have shown for the first time what doctors long suspected: a daily dose of aspirin can reduce the occurrence of colon and rectal polyps, which are considered precursors to most colorectal cancers.

Sandler and his colleagues studied 635 patients who had previously suffered from colorectal cancer in 100 medical centers and clinics across the country. Half of the participants took 325 milligrams of aspirin daily, and the other half took a placebo. After about thirty-one months, ending the study earlier than planned because of the significance of what they were discovering, the researchers gathered their data and adjusted it for age, sex, cancer stage, and the timing of colonoscopies. Their findings? Subjects in the aspirin treatment group had a 35 percent lower risk of developing new polyps in their colons. The average number of polyps was lower in the aspirin group, and the appearance and development of polyps also appeared to be slowed by the aspirin.

eartening though these results are, Sandler warns that people should not assume they can use aspirin to self-medicate against cancer. Patients should consult their doctors before beginning to take aspirin, and aspirin should be a supplement to other medical procedures, Sandler says. "We view aspirin or drugs like aspirin as being an adjunct to colonoscopy, during which we can remove any polyps that aspirin failed to prevent."

Sandler is professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Schools of Medicine and Public Health, the chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, and the director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease. Reports about the above study and a related investigation, of which Sandler is a coauthor, were published in the March 6, 2003, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The National Cancer Institute supported both studies.

Michelle Coppedge is editorial assistant and writer for Endeavors magazine.
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