Embargoed until:
Publicly released:
2024-08-02 01:00
The link between aspirin use and a lower colorectal cancer risk is strongest among those with less healthy lifestyles, according to international research. The researchers say previous studies have shown aspirin can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, so they investigated who might see the greatest risk reduction if they took the painkiller. Using data from a long-term women’s health study, the team compared aspirin usage, various measures to calculate how healthy a participant’s lifestyle is and the rate of colorectal cancer among over 100,000 women. The researchers say the colorectal cancer rate over the study was 1.98% for those who used aspirin regularly and 2.95% for those who didn’t. Participants with less healthy lifestyles saw a greater overall risk reduction from aspirin usage compared to healthier participants, the researchers say, which could help identify the kind of people more likely to see more of a benefit than a risk from regularly taking aspirin.
Journal/conference: JAMA Oncology
Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.2503
Organisation/s: Harvard Medical School, USA
Funder: This work was supported by
infrastructure grants UM1 CA186107 and P01
CA87969 for the Nurses’ Health study;
infrastructure grant U01 CA167552 for the Health
Professionals Follow-Up Study; K99CA283146
(DrWang); American Gastroenterological
Association AGA2021-13-01 and MGH Claflin
Distinguished Scholar Award (Dr Ma);
K01DK120742 (Dr Drew); R35 CA197735 (Dr Ogino);
American Cancer Society CRP-23-1014041 (Dr
Giovannucci); K07CA218377 and R37CA246175 (Dr
Cao); K23DK125838, American Gastroenterological
Association Research Scholars Award, Crohn’s and
Colitis Foundation Career Development Award,
MGH/Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute
Transformative Scholars Award (Dr Nguyen); and
R35 CA253185 and American Cancer Society
Research Professor
(Dr Chan).
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