ASPIRIN…WONDER DRUG….CONTINUES TO AMAZE

Aspirin is just over 100 years old.  Developed by Bayer Chemical, the same year as they developed Heroin, they would both go on to have famous careers.  Actually, Bayer thought Heroin would be much more popular….little did they know.

Aspirin remains a great medication for a whole host of issues, but among the most important is it’s ability to prevent colon cancer.  This has been demonstrated in multiple studies and is among the reasons daily aspirin remains legitimate, despite the controversy about it’s ability to prevent vascular issues.

Now, studies are identifying the benefits of aspirin for colon prevention is related to specific genetic modifications in the colon polyps and tumors.  These studies show that if a person with colon cancer has their tumor analyzed, and they find a specific mutation called PIK3CA, then aspirin provides an 80% reduction in cancer recurrence.  Great news for these people, but patients with other mutations do not get much, if any, benefit from aspirin use

Read more:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1207756