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Saturday 25 December 2010

Bowel cancer fish oil and aspirin treatment study

reposted from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-11380159
links / comments in blue are by crabsallover


Faecal Occult Blood test FOBt (Bupa) - Bowel Cancer test explained
NHS bowel cancer screening website for England
- NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme offers screening every 2 years to all men and women aged 60 to 69 (on request up to 75)
- Screening Pathway
Predicted outcomes of bowel cancer screening
- EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer) study found risk of colorectal polyps / cancer reduces if:

  • diet high in fibre (mostly in fruit, vegetables and cereals (inc. flour & bread))
  • eat small amounts of red meat
    • lamb, pork, veal and beef
  • eat small amounts of processed meat
    •  sausages, salami, ham, bacon, paté, corned beef
  • eat fish
  • diet high in calcium
    • >1.3g / day equiv. 2 pints of milk or 4 pots yoghurt
  • < 12.5 units of alcohol per week
    • 1 unit = 10mls of 100% alcohol. Formula.
  • healthy weight
    • overweight men 25% increased risk; obese men 50% increased risk
  • physically active
    • 50% lower with regular exercise
  • take daily aspirin
  • vitamin D
  • bowel cancer screening
    • 25% lower risk when tested with FOBt


END crabsallover links



Bowel cancer cell
Bowel cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the UK
A major study is to be carried out to find out whether taking two pills a day - containing fish oil and aspirin - could help prevent bowel cancer.

see University of Leeds Press Release.
About Mark Hull
About 1,000 people are to be recruited from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) in England to take part in the research.
The study, led by the University of Leeds, will look at the pills' effects.
The trial is expected to begin in April or May 2011 and up to 30 English hospitals in will be involved.
Protective effect
Bowel cancer is the world's third most common cancer, with more than a million new patients being diagnosed each year.
In most cases, the cancer develops from tiny, slow-growing nodules on the bowel wall, known as polyps.
Previous studies have shown that a substance found naturally in fish oil known as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and aspirin can each, taken on their own, provide some protection against bowel polyps.
"Taken together, the protective effect may be even greater, as researchers now intend to find out," said Leeds University's Professor Mark Hull, who is leading the trial.
'Major advantage'
If effective pills could be found, patients at risk of developing the growths would need far fewer check-ups.
"A major advantage of EPA and aspirin is that they are both safe, have few side effects and they are already used widely by people who have heart disease or who have had a stroke," said Prof Hull.
"Other drugs that have been shown to prevent bowel polyps have been linked to an increase in heart attacks, so they are unsuitable for widespread use.
"If this treatment is shown to be safe and effective, then in future it could be given to more patients who have been found to have these pre-cancerous bowel polyps and are at risk of developing others in the future."
Researchers from the universities of Leeds, Bradford and Nottingham, and South Tyneside and Gateshead NHS Foundation Trusts, will be working with doctors and nurses from the BCSP on the trial.

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