Low-dose aspirin, even if not taken daily, may reduce a woman's risk of colon cancer over the long term, according to a new study that did not find the same effect for other types of cancer. The apparent benefit came at a cost, as women taking aspirin also had higher rates of stomach bleeding and ulcers. But researchers found that women who took 100 milligrams (mg) of aspirin every other day for at least 10 years ended up with about a 20 percent lower risk of colon cancer after some 18 years of follow up, compared to women who took a placebo. "We were quite surprised to see it actually," said Nancy Cook, the study's lead author from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, because some researchers had believed that 100 mg of aspirin every other day was too little and too infrequent to matter. The new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is a follow-up to an earlier report that found no difference in colon cancer risk among the women during the first 10 years of taking aspirin. Read more http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/15/us-long-term-aspirin-idUSBRE96E0WH20130715
