Daily Aspirin May Reduce Cancer Risk

February 2, 2011 | by

It is old news that aspirin is good for your heart. But a recent report published in The Lancet, the premiere medical journal in the United Kingdom, claims that at least 75mg of aspirin every day can also reduce the risk of developing many different types of cancers.

There is already evidence that taking aspirin every day for five years can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Moreover, aspirin has been shown to reduce the incidence and/or growth rate of a number of cancers in animal models. To determine if aspirin can reduce the risk of other cancers in humans, Peter Rothwell and colleagues at the University of Oxford undertook a meta-analysis of eight randomized trials originally performed to study aspirin’s role in preventing vascular events. This study was independent of any commercial interests.

Top 6 Most Important Cancer Advances of 2007

January 17, 2008 | by

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently published its third annual Clinical Cancer Advances report, Clinical Cancer Advances 2007: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention and Screening [1]. It was developed under the guidance of a 21-person editorial board consisting of leading oncologists and cancer specialists, including specialty editors for each of the disease-specific and issue-specific sections. The report highlights 6 major advances in cancer research in 2007 and describes an additional 18 other findings of significant importance, demonstrating the pace of progress being made in cancer prevention, screening, treatment, epidemiology and survivorship.

QuitWinLive – The Great American Smokeout

November 15, 2007 | by

quit-smokingToday, the American Cancer Society (ACS) celebrates the Great American Smokeout, an annual event in the U.S. to encourage Americans to quit smoking. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006 one in five U.S. adults smoked [1]. The Great American Smokeout challenges those people to smoke less or quit smoking for the day. The event also raises awareness of the many effective ways to quit for good.

The ACS has just wrapped up their first ever video contest on YouTube, where they asked people to create videos – one minute or less – to discourage smoking. You can check out the contest winners at the American Cancer Society.

You can also read more about the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco smoke in these articles here at Highlight HEALTH:

Accept the Great American Smokeout Challenge.
Quit for one day, or quit for good.

References

  1. Cigarette smoking among adults–United States, 2006. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2007 Nov 9;56(44):1157-61.
    View abstract

Smoking Duration vs. Intensity and the Impact on Lung Cancer Risk

October 24, 2007 | by

We’ve discussed smoking and health a number of times recently:

One of our readers asked a question I’m sure many have us have wondered about at one time or another:
Smoking tightrope
Which is worse for the development of lung cancer — smoking heavily over a short period of time or smoking fewer cigarettes over many years?

Here’s what the research has to say:

Irreversible Gene Expression Changes From Smoking

September 4, 2007 | by

Recent research published in the online open journal BMC Genomics shows that smoking leads to changes in gene expression, some of which are reversible and some of which are permanent. Genes that are irreversibly changed may help to explain why former smokers, even after 10 years of not smoking, are still more susceptible to lung cancer than those who have never smoked.