Aspirin Could Lower Cancer Risk for Overweight Patients

Overweight individuals at increased cancer risk could benefit from a regular dose of aspirin, according to a new study.

A team of investigators from 40-plus centers in 16 countries evaluated the progress of 937 patients with Lynch syndrome, a genetic disorder that increases the risk of cancers such as colon cancer and womb cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to take either 2 aspirin (600 mg) a day over the course of 2 years, or a placebo.
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The researchers followed up with patients 10 years later. At that time, 55 of the participants had developed colon cancers, according to the authors, who note that obese individuals taking part in the study were 2.75 times more likely to develop this cancer than were those of normal weight. They add, however, that the risk of colon cancer among those assigned to take 2 aspirin daily was the same regardless of whether the participants were obese.

The researchers point out that additional research must be conducted to confirm and determine the exact extent to which aspirin provides protection in terms of high body-mass index. The team plans to next conduct a larger follow-up trial including 3,000 participants from around the world, in order to test how various doses of aspirin affect participants, and to determine whether lower doses provide the same type of protection.

The findings from this study are “important for people with Lynch syndrome, but affects the rest of us too,” said Sir John Burn, a professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University, and co-author of the study, in a statement.

“Lots of people struggle with their weight, and this suggests the extra cancer risk can be canceled by taking an aspirin.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Movahedi M, Bishop T, et al. Obesity, aspirin, and risk of colorectal cancer in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer: a prospective investigation in the CAPP2 study. JCO. 2015.