The low dose (75-100mg) is similar to what people take for the prevention of cardiovascular events. That matters, since aspirin can come with unpleasant side effects, including indigestion, internal bleeding, stomach ulcers and even brain haemorrhage, and lower dose can be much better tolerated. The findings are already affected policy. “In the UK, guidelines have been changed as a result of our findings,” says Burn. Since 2020, these now recommend that people with Lynch Syndrome should start taking aspirin at about 20 years of age for most people, or 35 for less severe cases.
Given these results, it is natural to wonder whether aspirin could benefit other patient groups. Martling has investigated whether aspirin can reduce the risk of metastasis in people who’ve already had a diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Her team focused on people with common mutations in their bowel or rectal tumors. “Of all patients getting colorectal cancer, 40% have one of the mutations we have studied,” she explains. Previous research had suggested these people may respond particularly well to aspirin.
The three-year randomised controlled trial involved 2,980 patients, with one group taking 160mg of aspirin daily, starting within three months of surgery, and the other receiving a placebo. The aspirin-treated group had less than half the risk of recurrence – a highly significant effect size. “That’s a large group of the patients,” says Martling. What’s more, both Martling’s and Burn’s trials showed very few cases of adverse effects in the people taking aspirin.
Aspirin has long been used as an over-the-counter painkiller, but it may be hiding many other benefits
READ MORE ON THE NEXT PAGE..
