Aspirin cuts death risks from liver cancer

Aspirin may help reduce risks of developing liver cancer or dying from liver disease, regardless of how often it’s taken, a new study has revealed.

The new study looked at more than 300,000 men and women between 50 and 71 years old who were enrolled in an AARP diet and health study. Participants on average were tracked for 10 to 12 years, and reported their use of both aspirin and non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) throughout the study period.

The researchers found people taking aspirin were 41 percent less likely to develop liver cancer, also called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and were 45 percent less likely to die from chronic liver disease (CLD). People who took non-aspirin NSAIDs were 26 percent less likely to die from liver disease, but had no significant protection against liver cancer.

“Aspirin, in particular, when used exclusively or with other non-aspirin NSAIDs showed a consistent protective effect related to both HCC incidence and CLD mortality, regardless of the frequency or exclusivity of use,” BBS News quoted the researchers as writing in the Journal of National Cancer Institute.

“We are seeing a growing body of evidence suggesting that taking aspirin long-term prevents the development of several types of cancer (in people taking NSAIDs for heart benefits),” Dr. Boris Pasche, an oncologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who was not involved in the research, told MedPage Today.

It is a new role added to list of protective benefits that the medication can give.

In August, a study also published in the Journal of National Cancer Institute found that people who took aspirin daily were 16 percent less likely to die from cancer, compared to people who don’t take the pill.

The overall reduction was driven in part by a 40 percent reduced risk of dying from cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, including esophageal, stomach and colon cancers.

Several studies in a March issue of The Lancet found cancer protection in aspirin-takers, including reduced risks of developing colon, lung and prostate cancers and a reduced risk for cancer spreading in those who had several forms of the disease.

Not every study however has found benefits from taking daily aspirin. An October study in Circulation found heart attack suffers who take NSAIDs were 30 percent more likely to have a second heart attack or die from heart disease within one year of their heart attack, a risk that climbed over time.
In an accompanying editorial published
in the same journal, researchers from the department of epidemiology and community medicine at the University of Ottawa in Canada argued while there should be more studies on how aspirin could prevent against liver cancer, researchers should continue to focus on other proven strategies, such as vaccines for hepatitis B and C and reducing obesity and alcohol use.