Risks of aspirin outweigh cancer benefit for most

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The risks of aspirin, including stomach bleeding, outweigh its potential benefits in preventing colon cancer in people who have just an average risk of cancer, a U.S. expert panel advised on Monday.

So people with no reason to believe they have a high likelihood of colorectal cancer, including those with a family history of the disease, should not take aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to try to prevent it, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says in new recommendations.

But people who take aspirin to prevent other conditions such as heart disease should continue to discuss with their doctors whether it is worthwhile, said Dr. Ned Calonge, Colorado Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist, who is also head of the Task Force.

Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Task Force noted that taking more than 300 mg per day of aspirin, ibuprofen or other similar drugs, known as NSAIDs, can cause stroke, intestinal bleeding or kidney failure.

The Task Force said there is good evidence that low doses of aspirin, less than 100 mg a day, can reduce the risk for heart disease but does not reduce the rate of colorectal cancer.

Higher doses of aspirin and perhaps ibuprofen can prevent colorectal cancer, which is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States after lung cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, 112,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007 and 52,000 will die of it.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is an independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care who assess studies on prevention and issue occasional advisories.