This website discusses uses of aspirin not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Possible additional benefit from aspirin regimen use
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that regular aspirin use (defined as 2 or more 325mg tablets per week) was associated with a statistically significant 23% reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer in a large cohort of women with no previous history of such cancer, who were enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and followed for a period of 20 years. The apparent benefit with aspirin use was substantially greater with increasing dose and long-term use (10 years or more), with the greatest reduction in risk observed at doses greater than 14 "standard tablets" (325mg tablets) per week.1The study authors point out that the amount of aspirin required for a chemopreventive benefit may be higher than the commonly recommended dose for the prevention of cardiovascular events. By contrast, findings from three earlier prospective trials demonstrated that low-dose aspirin (81-325mg) appears to cause a measurable decrease in the recurrence of polyps (potentially dangerous growths in the colon) in patients with a history of adenomas or colorectal cancer.2,3,4 Also, a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that colon cancer patients who took low-dose aspirin regularly fared better after surgery, reducing their risk of disease recurrence and death by half compared to non- users.5 The results from these studies are part of a growing body of evidence of aspirin's promise in the prevention of various cancers, including those of the breast, stomach, esophagus, ovaries and prostate, as well as leukemia.
While research for aspirin use in chemoprevention to date is compelling, aspirin is not indicated for this use. Therefore, additional research is needed before aspirin can be routinely recommended for this use. Furthermore, because this study indicated that aspirin can be associated with dose-related side effects, such as serious G.I. bleeding, conclusions regarding the benefit-to-risk relationship of the doses evaluated in this study also require additional research.
In 2004 the same group of authors reported similar results in a cohort of 27,077 women enrolled in the NHS studying the occurrence of precancerous lesions.6 The new data, based on a much larger cohort of 82,911 women, further supports the results reported in 2003 by studying the incidence of cancer itself.
1Chan AT, et al. [Title}. JAMA 2005;294:914-923.
2Sandler RS, Halabi S, Baron JA, et al. A randomized trial of aspirin to prevent colorectal adenomas in patients with previous colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med 2003;348:883-890.
3Baron JA, Cole BF, Sandler RS, et al. A randomized trial of aspirin to prevent colorectal adenomas.
4Benamouzig R, Deyra J, Martin A, et al. Daily soluble aspirin and prevention of colorectal adenoma recurrence: one-year results of the APACC trial. Gastroenterology 2003;125:328-336.
5Fuchs C, Meyerhardt JA, Heseltine DL, et al. Influence of regular aspirin use on survival for patients with stage III colon cancer: findings from Intergroup trial CALGB 89803. Presented at annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology, May 17, 2005 (abstract).
6Chan AT, Giovannucci EL, Schernhammer ES, et al. A prospective study of aspirin use and the risk for colorectal adenoma. Ann Intern Med 2004;140:157-166.
