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American Morning
Can Aspirin Help Fight Colon Cancer?
Aired March 06, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Two new studies out offering some promise that Aspirin can help fight the third most common form of cancer, colorectal cancer.
Let's turn to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for more.
Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Yes, colon cancer obviously a big deal, kills about 57,000 people a year in the United States. And for that reason, there's been a lot of attention focused on the treatments and trying to find a cure for colon cancer, but really remarkably, Paula, as you mentioned, Aspirin, for a long time, the same medication used to treat headaches and inflammation, and used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, has been observed in the past to have some effect in terms of preventing colon cancer.
And now two studies, both out of the New England Journal of Medicine, looking at the effects of Aspirin on colon cancer found some interesting results. In patients who never had a history of colon cancer, but just had abnormal growths or polyps, had a 19 to 35 percent reduction in those polyps which can sometimes grow in cancer versus people who weren't on Aspirin. And people who actually did have a history of colon cancer in the past, if they took the Aspirin as opposed to people who didn't take the Aspirin, they also had a decrease in the number of abnormal growths.
Now these are two studies both out of the New England Journal of Medicine. They looked at varying doses of Aspirin, 81 milligrams, which is equivalent, basically to a baby Aspirin, and 325 milligrams, which is most commonly known aspirin. They didn't find much difference there. In fact, the 81 milligrams, the smaller dose of Aspirin, seem to have a slight better benefit in terms of reducing those polyps.
ZAHN: Any other recommendations to try to avoid getting colorectal cancer?
HEMMER: Yes, you know, colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers out there, and again, you know, these polyps can really be screened very effectively. The American Cancer Society has had some guidelines out there for quite sometime. And they come out even in light of this study and say don't forget about things like we know about like colon cancer screening for people over 50, a colonoscopy every 10 years. If you are someone that's high risk, because you have a strong family history of colon cancer or you have a lot of polyps, then the screening is going to start earlier at the age of 40 and a colonoscopy every five years. But, Paula, also don't the simple things like diet and exercise. We talk about that all of the time.
But when it comes to colon cancer, a fiber-rich diet, a diet that's rich in folate, again, those dark, leafy green vegetables, also seems to have some significant effect in terms of preventing this type of cancer.
ZAHN: Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 6, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Two new studies out offering some promise that Aspirin can help fight the third most common form of cancer, colorectal cancer.
Let's turn to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for more.
Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Yes, colon cancer obviously a big deal, kills about 57,000 people a year in the United States. And for that reason, there's been a lot of attention focused on the treatments and trying to find a cure for colon cancer, but really remarkably, Paula, as you mentioned, Aspirin, for a long time, the same medication used to treat headaches and inflammation, and used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, has been observed in the past to have some effect in terms of preventing colon cancer.
And now two studies, both out of the New England Journal of Medicine, looking at the effects of Aspirin on colon cancer found some interesting results. In patients who never had a history of colon cancer, but just had abnormal growths or polyps, had a 19 to 35 percent reduction in those polyps which can sometimes grow in cancer versus people who weren't on Aspirin. And people who actually did have a history of colon cancer in the past, if they took the Aspirin as opposed to people who didn't take the Aspirin, they also had a decrease in the number of abnormal growths.
Now these are two studies both out of the New England Journal of Medicine. They looked at varying doses of Aspirin, 81 milligrams, which is equivalent, basically to a baby Aspirin, and 325 milligrams, which is most commonly known aspirin. They didn't find much difference there. In fact, the 81 milligrams, the smaller dose of Aspirin, seem to have a slight better benefit in terms of reducing those polyps.
ZAHN: Any other recommendations to try to avoid getting colorectal cancer?
HEMMER: Yes, you know, colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers out there, and again, you know, these polyps can really be screened very effectively. The American Cancer Society has had some guidelines out there for quite sometime. And they come out even in light of this study and say don't forget about things like we know about like colon cancer screening for people over 50, a colonoscopy every 10 years. If you are someone that's high risk, because you have a strong family history of colon cancer or you have a lot of polyps, then the screening is going to start earlier at the age of 40 and a colonoscopy every five years. But, Paula, also don't the simple things like diet and exercise. We talk about that all of the time.
But when it comes to colon cancer, a fiber-rich diet, a diet that's rich in folate, again, those dark, leafy green vegetables, also seems to have some significant effect in terms of preventing this type of cancer.
ZAHN: Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
