Aspirin may be linked to lower risk of colorectal cancer, new study suggests

Aspirin is widely known for its heart attack prevention benefits, but a new study has also linked the common drug to a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

The study analyzed data from 107,655 men and women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study over a three-decade span. It was published in JAMA Oncology on Thursday.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Washington University School of Medicine found that regular aspirin use was linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer — especially for those with the unhealthiest lifestyles.

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"It shows an association between regular, low-dose aspirin use and decreased colon cancer use (close to 20%) in patients who are already at higher risk for several reasons, including smoking or poor diet," said Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.

Criteria for determining unhealthy lifestyles included higher body mass index, heavy smoking, higher alcohol intake, lack of physical activity and poor nutrition.

"We observed that participants in our study with the least healthy lifestyle had the greatest absolute benefit from aspirin use," lead study author Daniel Sikavi, M.D., a board-certified physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Fox News Digital.

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"These participants had multiple risk factors that increased their overall risk of developing colorectal cancer, and our results show that aspirin can proportionally lower this markedly elevated risk."

Among patients with a healthier lifestyle, the benefit from aspirin was still evident, but less pronounced.

"In the least healthy group, treating 78 patients with aspirin would prevent one case of colorectal cancer over 10 years, while it would take treating 909 patients to prevent one case in the healthiest group," added Sikavi.

As to why aspirin decreases colon cancer risk, Siegel said it is likely due to the fact that the medication acts as an anti-inflammatory, and many cancers are associated with increased inflammation.

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Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that health care providers consider recommending aspirin to patients with a less healthy lifestyle.

"This work is an example of how we can move beyond one-size-fits-all strategies for cancer prevention by targeting effective preventive agents, such as aspirin, to the populations that are most likely to benefit," Sikavi said.

Potential limitations

One limitation of the study was that the researchers did not systematically assess potential side effects associated with aspirin use, Sikavi noted.

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"Because this was an observational study, it is possible there may have been additional factors that influenced our findings, although we rigorously accounted for a number of known risk factors for colorectal cancer," he said.

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Siegel reiterated that because this is an observational study, "it is still not proof."

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 106,590 new cases of colon cancer and about 46,220 cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2024.