BRAF Gene Status Is Linked to Aspirin Benefit in Lowering Risk for Colorectal Cancer

Aspirin lowers risk for colorectal cancer and improves survival after colorectal cancer treatment, presumably by inhibiting production of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). The BRAF gene is an important regulator of the protein kinase pathway that controls upregulation of cyclooxygenase 2 and prostaglandin E₂ synthesis, suggesting that BRAF mutations might diminish responsiveness to aspirin compared with wild-type genes.

To explore this theory, Boston investigators examined data on aspirin use and colorectal cancer occurrence in about 128,000 healthcare professionals followed for a mean of 28 years in two large prospective cohort studies. BRAF data were available for 1226 incident cases of colorectal cancer (41% of total colorectal cancers). Risk for…