Polyps in Colon Appear to Be Reduced by Aspirin-Like Drug

The aspirin-like drug celecoxib appears to reduce the number of polyps in the colon, researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. Such polyps can evolve into colon cancer. A team led by Dr. Gideon Steinbach tested the drug in 77 people who still had at least part of their colon and several polyps.

After six months of treatment with the drug, trade-named Celebrex, the number of polyps was reduced by 28% for volunteers taking 400 milligrams twice a day. The reduction was less than 5% among placebo recipients. The volunteers suffered from familial adenomatous polyposis, an inherited condition that causes hundreds of polyps and virtually guarantees that colon cancer will develop.

--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II