Yesterday, we posted about a new analysis suggesting that long term aspirin use is likely to have an overall health benefit in the general population even when its side effects are taken into account. At risk of being wonky, we wanted to follow up on that with a figure that shows the general evolution of the science on aspirin use and colon cancer prevention.
Though it’s the cardiovascular benefits that come to most people’s minds when they think of reasons to take a daily aspirin, the Cuzick et al analysis shows that most of the benefits from regular aspirin use don’t come from the prevention of heart attack and ischemic stroke, they actually come from the prevention of cancer – including colorectal, esophageal, and stomach cancer, and possibly breast, prostate, and lung cancer. Of these, colorectal cancer is the most important, making up about a third of the total cancer and cardiovascular disease benefits of aspirin use.
The figure below (full size PDF) shows the evolution of the evidence on aspirin and colon cancer prevention. Though the science has taken a while to develop, the findings of a number of early positive studies have been confirmed in later studies, and it seems we’re finally reaching a point where broad recommendations for daily aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease as well as cancer may become a reality.
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