Daily dose of Viagra may reduce colorectal cancer risk

The results have only been found in mice so far but the next step for the research team is to get the trial approved for human tests with people who are considered high risk for colorectal cancer, like those with a family history. The disease is the third most common cancer in the world, according to the study, and is diagnosed more than one million times each year with about 50,000 of them ending in death.

But the research team is hoping to reduce these numbers. They saw in their trial that the mice were helped by a reduction of polyps — the abnormal clumping of cells that build on the inside lining of the intestines and have a tendency to become tumors. A daily low-dose of Viagra halved these formations in the critters.

Viagra reduces colorectal cancer risk