A new study has found that aspirin could protect people with common genes from developing colon cancer, a cancer of the large intestine.

Dr. Christina J. Seo, colorectal surgeon at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, said it was known that aspirin has the ability to decrease the formation of polyps. Polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane. The new study has shown why aspirin decreases the formation of polyps, as per Seo. The doctor also said that it will be too soon for the medical establishment to start recommending aspirin for colon cancer prevention, but it couldn't hurt.

She further said that small aspirin daily will not do much harm to regular aspirin users. “Generally, it's a benign thing you can take on a regular basis. It's possible that it can have this side benefit of maybe decreasing the number of polyps you develop in your lifetime, which can decrease your risk of colon cancer”, Seo added.

To conduct the study, the researchers had pooled genetic and lifestyle data from about ten previous studies that had involved over 17,000 people. Half of the people had colon or rectal cancer. In the previous studies, the participants were asked about their various habits. As per reports, about one-third of the people reported using aspirin frequently. The studies showed that aspirin might be protective.

The new study showed that users of aspirin developed less chances of getting colon or rectal cancer that people who do not use aspirin. The study also showed that frequent aspirin use reduced chances of developing colon-rectal cancer by an average of about 30%. As per the study, Aspirin users were less likely to get colon or rectal cancer if they had genetic traits.

The results of the study have been published on Tuesday in Journal of the American Medical Association.