Aspirin may Reduce the Risk of Colorectal Cancer for Patients with Specific Genes

A recent study shows that daily aspirin will not only reduce the risk of heart attack, but can also reduce the risk of colon cancer among those with high levels of a specific gene type.

According to researchers from Case Western, they discovered that individuals whose colons contained high levels of the gene 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) RNA, could dramatically benefit from the drug. However, for those with low levels of 15-PGDH, they showed no benefit with increased use of the drug.

The study involved data from two long-term studies that involved around 128,000 participants.

"If you looked at the folks from the study who had high 15-PGDH levels and took aspirin, they cut their risk of colon cancer by half," said senior author Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD, Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, via a press release. "If you looked at the folks from the study that were low for 15-PGDH, they did not benefit at all from taking aspirin. These findings represent a clean Yes-No about who would benefit from aspirin.

"This finding that aspirin can prevent colon cancer in certain individuals is an easy and cost-effective addition to our arsenal in the fight against the second-leading cancer killer. I am proud to see this valuable research advancing patient care for those at risk of colon cancer resulting from NCCRA support."

The American Cancer Society estimates that the lifetime risk of colon cancer is about 1 in 20. 

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Science Translational Medicine.