Regular aspirin use reduces the risk of colon polyps in women with a common gene mutation that slows aspirin breakdown, a new study shows. In contrast, when this mutation is absent, aspirin seems to have no effect on polyp risk.From 50 to 60 percent of the Caucasian population carries at least one copy of the variant gene, Andrew T. Chan of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston told Reuters Health.Previous research has linked the mutation to a stronger effect of aspirin on polyp risk, he notes. “Our study extends these findings by demonstrating this in a” forward-looking study, which minimizes the chances that patients incorrectly remember their aspirin use, Chan said.The investigation, which included 1,062 women participating in the Nurse’s Health Study, also was able to evaluate the effects of aspirin use at different doses. The findings are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
