Aspirin Blocks Recurrence of Colorectal Cancer

By Rachel Stockton (rachels@foodconsumer.org)

"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. . ."

This cliché-ic admonition may very well be the advice of medical doctors to patients who are suffering from colorectal cancer in the very near future. A new study out of Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown an impressive correlation between aspirin and the cancer.

1279 cancer stricken men and women were studied for approximately 12 years; all participants had non-metastic colorectal cancer. Those who took the aspirin before and after the diagnosis were 1/3 less likely to die from the cancer. Interestingly, those who took it only after the diagnosis did even better; they upped their odds of recovery by ½!

Researchers maintain that they know why aspirin is so effective, causally. An enzyme, cyclogenase-2 (COX-2) appears in colorectal cancer patients; aspirin is a known COX-2 inhibitor.

On its website, the American Cancer Society cites a study in 2002 that showed that men and women who were already on an aspirin regimen for their hearts decreased their risk of recurrence of colon cancer by 40%. The study was given to patients who had colorectal cancer, then followed until their follow up colonoscopy, which took place 1-3 years after the initial diagnosis.

The website also quotes Dr. Allan H. Conney, director of the Laboratory of Cancer Research at Rutgers. He said that based on several animal and observational studies ". . . people who are ingesting aspirin chronically have a lower risk of colon cancer."