Long-Term Aspirin Use Reduces Risk for Gastrointestinal Cancer

Retrospective and prospective studies have suggested that aspirin use reduces the risk for colorectal cancer. However, whether aspirin reduces risks for other cancers and whether it supplements the benefit of colorectal cancer screening have not been clearly established.

Investigators now report long-term follow-up from a cohort analysis of more than 135,000 healthcare professionals (88,000 women and 47,000 men) assessed in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. The researchers assessed effect of aspirin dose, frequency of use, and duration of use on the development of cancer in the pooled cohort, as well as the impact of aspirin on colorectal cancer in the context of colonoscopy screening in participants aged…