Aspirin Use in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Aspirin use is significantly associated with improved overall survival following a colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis. To learn more about which patients benefit most, researchers at cancer treatment centers around the United States conducted a study on the timing of aspirin use in relation to subtypes of CRC.

Cancer registries were used to identify 2419 patients aged 18-74 years who were diagnosed with invasive CRC from 1997 to 2008. Epidemiologic questionnaires were completed at study enrollment and at 5-year follow-ups, and national death registries were used to identify survival outcomes.

After a median of 10.8 years of follow-up after CRC diagnosis, 100 deaths due to CRC were identified. Compared with nonusers, aspirin-only users had more favorable overall survival. Use of any NSAID after diagnosis was associated with improved overall survival only among patients with KRAS wild-type tumors.

The researchers concluded that among long-term CRC survivors, regular use of aspirin is associated with overall survival and use of NSAIDs was significantly associated with improved survival only in individuals with KRAS wild-type tumors. The study findings are available here.