A study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds, U.K. and Newcastle University was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

According to the research team, they found that in people with Lynch Syndrome being overweight more than doubles the risk of bowel cancer. The Lynch Syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder that affects genes responsible for detecting and repairing DNA damage. Statistics shows that around half of those suffering of this affection develop cancer, mainly in the womb and bowel.

The ten-year study found that the risk of developing cancer could be counteracted by taking a regular dose of aspirin.

Professor Sir John Burn of Clinical Genetics at Newcastle University led the international research collaboration. He said that this study is important not only for people with Lynch Syndrome but for the rest of us too. Many people are overweight and the findings of this research suggest the extra cancer risk can be minimized by taking an aspirin.

Professor Burn added that this study comes to confirm "the growing body of evidence which links an increased inflammatory process to an increased risk of cancer". The inflammatory response is increased by obesity and a possible explanation for the benefic effects of aspirin is that the drug may suppress that inflammation. According to Burn, their study "opens up new avenues of research into the cause of cancer".

A randomized controlled trial part of the CAPP 2 study was involving scientists and clinicians from 16 countries and over 43 centers following nearly 1,000 patients with Lynch Syndrome over a period up to 10 years. The participants began either taking a placebo or two aspirins (600 mg) every day for two years.

At the follow-up ten years later the scientists discovered that 55 of the participants had developed bowel cancers. Those people who were obese were 2.75 times as likely to develop this cancer.

The trial was funded by the European Union, Cancer Research UK, UK Medical Research Council, and Bayer Pharma and overseen by Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.