Regular Aspirin Use Before Diagnosis May Cut CRC Mortality

TUESDAY, Feb. 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Regular aspirin use before diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with reduced CRC-specific mortality, according to a study published online Feb. 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Jane C. Figueiredo, Ph.D., from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the association for aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with CRC-specific survival in a prospective analysis of women and men from the Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort who were cancer-free at baseline (1992/1993) and diagnosed with CRC through follow-up (2015).

The researchers found that long-term regular aspirin use before diagnosis was associated with lower CRC-specific mortality (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.52 to 0.92). There was no significant association seen for postdiagnosis regular aspirin use with the risk for CRC-specific mortality overall (HR, 0.82; 95 percent CI, 0.62 to 1.09). Compared with participants who did not use aspirin both before and after diagnosis, the risk for CRC-specific mortality was lower for those who began regular aspirin use only after their diagnosis (HR, 0.60; 95 percent CI, 0.36 to 0.98). Lower odds of diagnosis with distant metastases were seen with long-term aspirin use before diagnosis (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio, 0.73; 95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.99).

“While more evidence is needed, preferably from randomized, controlled trials, findings from this study are an important resource to inform clinicians and CRC survivors about the potential benefits and harms of aspirin and nonaspirin NSAIDs use,” a coauthor said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to FAKnostics.

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