Study: Baby Aspirin Cuts Colorectal Cancer Risk by 40 Percent

Dartmouth Medical School researchers report that acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in Aspirin®, appears to lower the risk of colorectal cancer by 40 percent.

While the researchers offered no concrete therapeutic recommendations for use of the drug, they reported that a dose of 81 milligrams daily -- the amount in a single baby aspirin -- provided better protection than the 325 milligrams found in a regular aspirin.

The study also concluded that aspirin can reduce by 19 percent the risk of redeveloping colorectal polyps, benign tumors that may turn malignant if left untreated.

The study followed 1,121 men and women who had undergone surgery to remove colorectal polyps for a three-year period. One group received a placebo while the others received either an 81-milligram or 325-milligram dosage of aspirin.

The risk of colorectal cancer was reduced by 40 percent in patients receiving the 81- milligram dosage, compared with 19 percent in patients taking a 325-milligram dosage, the researchers reported. They offered no explanation for the difference.

Bayer said longer-term studies would be required if acetylisalicylic acid were to play a role in the prevention of colorectal cancer in the future.

Other sources: Journal of Clinical Oncology