time dental logo Appointments

Aspirin “May Cut Oral Cancer Risk”

Dr Rashid from Time Dental in Farnham, Surrey blogs about an article that states aspirin taken regularly may reduce the risk of oral cancer

According to new research taking a regular low dose of aspirin could prevent head and neck cancers by almost a quarter and throat cancers had the most benefit from regular aspirin use.

Head and neck cancers affect more than 16,000 people in the UK. Mouth cancer affects more than 6000 people and claims more lives than testicular and cervical cancer combined.

Dr Nigel Carter, Chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation stressed the importance of the findings.

Dr Carter said: ‘Mouth cancer cases are increasing, so this piece of research is encouraging. Regular aspirin use has been linked to preventing a number of cancers, and if it is a particularly successful practice for warding off mouth cancer, it should act as a springboard for more research.

‘But as much as these results are encouraging, people should not be fooled into thinking that taking aspirin counteracts the dangers of mouth cancer. If you smoke, drink alcohol to excess, have a poor diet and are at risk from picking up the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), often transmitted via oral sex, aspirin use will be irrelevant.
‘The good news is if spotted early, survival rates are almost 90%. However, too many people come forward too late, because they do not visit their dentist for regular examinations, and this means survival rates tumble to as low as 50%. Our advice is simple – if in doubt, get checked out.’
See the link for more info:
http://www.dentistry.co.uk/news/aspirin-may-cut-oral-cancer-risk
Time Dental– Private dental care at its best

Back to news index
Call us Email us Appointments