It may drop the risk of death from colon cancer if used before diagnosis.
Aspirin and cancer
Did you know that doctors have long known that the bark of the willow tree could reduce pain, help bring down a fever, and reduce inflammation? Around 400 BC, Hippocrates wrote of the use of salicylic tea to reduce fevers. Willow bark preparations entered medicine chests in classical antiquity as well as in the Middle Ages.
Fast forward to the late 1800s, when German chemist Felix Hofman of the Bayer pharmaceutical company synthesized the active ingredient in willow bark. Salicylic acid proved to be a potent reliever of pain. The odds are pretty high that you have had Bayer aspirin in your medicine chest at some time.
Researchers examined outcomes from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort for cancer-free subjects at the baseline in 1992 or 1993 and diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer during follow-up through 2015.
The scientists looked at the use of aspirin and non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and their relationship to colorectal cancer deaths among those found with the disease.
Long-term aspirin use before a diagnosis of colorectal cancer appeared associated with lower colorectal cancer-related mortality. Aspirin use before a colon cancer diagnosis was also associated with lower odds of diagnosis with distant spread of cancer, with a more than one-quarter reduction in risk.
Here are the details: Those who consumed aspirin more than 15 times per month before being found with colorectal cancer had a lower risk of death from the disease. Cancer-specific mortality dropped by nearly one-third. Those who began regular aspirin use only after their diagnosis were at lower risk than participants who did not use aspirin in the pre-or post-diagnosis periods (40 percent relative drop in risk).
How might aspirin be working its magic? The drug may reduce deaths from colorectal cancer by limiting the distant spread of colorectal cancers before diagnosis. This reduction in distant metastases leads to fewer deaths from colon or rectal cancer.
However, we need higher-level proof. For example, it would be helpful to have randomized, controlled clinical trials. Lacking this, I ask myself, “Does the current study harmonizes with the available evidence?” An analysis of a collection of studies supports the notion that aspirin reduces colon and rectal cancer incidence. Still, this finding only begins to emerge after ten years of follow-up.
What about mortality? Are the current study’s results consistent with historical research findings? A 2010 systematic review (with long-term follow-up fate from four randomized trials) showed aspirin to be associated with about a one-third reduction in the long-term risk of dying from colorectal cancer.
What should you do? Check-in with a valued healthcare provider first. The 2016 US Preventive Services Task Force statement supports the use of aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer for these populations:
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