Aspirin may help protect against carcinogen Barrett's esophagus

Washington, July 24 (ANI): Aspirin use has been found to reduce the risk of Barrett's esophagus, which is also the largest known risk factor for esophageal cancer, a new study has revealed.

"The protective effect of aspirin use appears robust because the analyses suggests a dose-response relationship in which high-dose aspirin was significantly associated with decreased Barrett's esophagus risk," said Chin Hur, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and lead author of this study.

"It would not be advisable at this time for patients to start taking aspirin, particularly at higher doses, if preventing Barrett's esophagus is the only goal. However, if additional data confirms our findings and an individual at high risk for development of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer also could derive additional benefits, most notably cardiovascular, aspirin could be a consideration," Dr. Hur said.

Dr. Hur and his team of researchers analyzed characteristics of 434 patients suffering from Barrett's esophagus for factors that might be used in screening and management.

And while it was found that those taking aspirin were 44 percent less likely to have BE, they also found that men were more than three times likelier to develop BE than women.

The occurrences of esophageal cancer have been increasing at an alarming rate during the past few decades and current attempts at targeted screening for this type of cancer focus on identifying BE. (ANI)