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Preventive benefits of aspirin outweigh risks for GI cancers
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Long-term prophylactic use of aspirin significantly reduced gastrointestinal cancer risk and mortality with a favorable benefit/harm profile, according to new research data.
“It has long been known that aspirin can protect against certain types of cancer,” Jack Cuzick, PhD, Center for Cancer Prevention, Queen Mary University of London, said in a press release. “But until our study, where we analyzed all the available evidence, it was unclear whether the pros of taking aspirin outweighed the cons.”
Jack Cuzick
Cuzick and colleagues performed a systematic review of the most current evidence for aspirin’s effects on site-specific cancers and overall estimates of its benefits vs. harms. They obtained data from studies and clinical trials and analyzed benefits and harms associated with taking aspirin for 10 years beginning at ages 50, 55, 60 and 65 years.
“While there are some serious side effects that can’t be ignored, taking aspirin daily looks to be the most important thing we can do to reduce cancer after stopping smoking and reducing obesity, and will probably be much easier to implement,” Cuzick said.
The data showed the greatest protective effect for colorectal cancer with some trials indicating up to 37% reductions in incidence and 40% overall reductions in mortality. Reductions in esophageal cancer incidence ranged from 27% to 43%, while mortality fell by 44% to 58%. The incidence of gastric cancer (25% to 39%) and mortality (31% to 58%) also saw reductions. Small and variable effects were observed for pancreatic, breast, prostate, lung and endometrial cancers. Incidence reductions were seen after 3 years of treatment, and mortality reductions after 5 years, both for daily aspirin doses above 75 mg. Best estimates showed major bleeding events would increase by 0.16% and 0.81% during a 15-year period, with net relative benefit on these events estimated to be 6% overall but greater in older men.
“Our study shows that if everyone aged between 50 to 65 started taking aspirin daily for at least 10 years, there would be a 9% reduction in the number of cancers, strokes and heart attacks overall in men and around 7% in women,” Cuzick said. “The total number of deaths from any cause would also be lower, by about 4% over a 20-year period. The benefits of aspirin use would be most visible in the reduction in deaths due to cancer.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.
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