A simple aspirin a day might help treat colon cancer in patients with a gene mutation that makes them more vulnerable to the disease, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Andrew Chan of Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues examined health questionnaires filled out by 964 colon cancer patients. Among the 62 aspirin users with the mutated gene, only two had died over the course of 13 years compared to 23 of the non-aspirin users with the mutation. Moreover, about one in six colorectal cancer patients has this mutation, and testing for it is not expensive.
It s exciting to think that something that s already in the medicine cabinet may really have such an important effect, Dr. Chan says.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross says the study seems important, but this kind of observational study doesn t prove that the aspirin actually helped treat cancer. There could be other factors confounders that caused the difference between the two groups. A prospective study in which some people are randomly selected to receive aspirin and others are not would be required to prove aspirin really has such benefits. But such an study would need to last several years and be very expensive, he adds.
