Aspirin Reduces Risk of Dying From Colorectal Cancer
August 13, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Regular use of aspirin after colorectal cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of cancer death, according to investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. The study's authors also find that the aspirin-associated survival advantage was seen primarily in patients with tumors expressing the COX-2 enzyme, which is characteristic of two-thirds of colorectal cancers.
"While previous studies by our group and others showed that aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, this study is the among the first to show that aspirin can also improve survival in patients who have already been diagnosed with colorectal cancers. Moreover, the benefit appeared to be especially strong among patients with cancers that express COX-2," Andrew Chan, MD, MPH, of the MGH Gastrointestinal Unit, the study's lead author was quoted as saying. "This is an important first step toward developing targeted approaches to improving patient outcomes."
The current study included 1,279 participants who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer during their participation in the studies and for whom data on aspirin use was available before and after diagnosis. Tumor samples available from 459 participants were analyzed for the expression of COX-2. Study results indicated that patients who regularly took aspirin after their diagnosis had a nearly 30 percent lower risk of dying of colorectal cancer during an average of 11 years after diagnosis than did non-aspirin users. The benefit was especially strong among patients who began using aspirin after diagnosis. In contrast, patients who were aspirin users before diagnosis did not appear to benefit as much from continuing aspirin use after diagnosis. The survival benefit appeared restricted to patients with COX-2-positive tumors.
"We believe our results could lead to improvements in the therapy of patients with colon cancer," Charles Fuchs, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, the study's senior author is quoted as saying. "We're now following up this observational study with a randomized trial to evaluate adding the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib – which is less likely to have the gastrointestinal side effects of aspirin – to standard chemotherapy."
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA), August 12, 2009
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