Long-Term Aspirin Use May Reduce Colon Cancer Risk in Women

Long-term alternate-day use of aspirin was associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of developing colon cancer in women, according to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. 

Unfortunately, benefits to colon cancer risk appeared only after 10 years of aspirin use, and were offset by increases to the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and peptic ulcers associated with regular use of the drug. No overall benefits to the risk of other cancers were found. 

Nancy Cook, ScD, and colleagues followed 39,876 women, 45 years or older, for a total of 18 years of follow-up in the Women’s Health Study, which tested how vitamin E supplements and aspirin use effected cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

The women were randomly assigned to 100 mg of aspirin every other day for 10 years, 33,682 of which agreed to participate in extended follow-up through March 2012. 

Researchers concluded that although aspirin did reduce the risk of colorectal cancers in women, the significant negative effects of long-term use must be taken into consideration before prescribing.

Do you prescribe long-term aspirin use to your female patients? Will these findings affect your prescribing methods in the future? Let us know in the comments below.

–Michael Potts

Reference

Cook N R, Lee I, Zhang S M, Moorthy M V, Burling, J E.  Alternate-Day, Low-Dose Aspirin and Cancer Risk: Long-Term Observational Follow-up of a Randomized Trial [Published online ahead of print July 16, 2013.  Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-159-2-201307160-00002