Aspirin and Delayed Chemoprevention of Colorectal Cancer.

Abstract

Featured articles: Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Ascherio A, Willett WC. Aspirin use and the risk for colorectal cancer and adenoma in male health professionals. Ann Intern Med 1994;121:241–6.2 Giovannucci E, Egan KM, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Speizer FE. Aspirin and the risk of colorectal cancer in women. N Engl J Med 1995;333:609–14.3 In the 1980s, emerging epidemiologic evidence suggested that risk of colorectal cancer was lower in aspirin users. This finding drew interest from researchers. The Physicians' Health Study was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin (325 mg taken every other day) and β-carotene. The trial was terminated in 1988 after 4.7 years because of a significant reduction in myocardial infarction in aspirin users. The investigators resourcefully used the data to consider aspirin use in relation to colorectal cancer risk. They published in 1993 that aspirin did not reduce colorectal cancer incidence during 5 years of randomized treatment and follow-up evaluation (1). This disappointing result …