Aspirin could cut the risk of death in some cancer patients by up to 20%, according to a new analysis.
A major review of 118 published observational studies in patients with 18 different cancers found that in about 250,000 patients with cancer who reported taking aspirin, it was associated with a reduction of about 20% in cancer deaths.
Researchers at Cardiff University who undertook the review, published in eCancermedicalscience, say the available body of evidence on its efficacy and safety “justifies its use” as a supplementary treatment in a wide range of cancers.
Lead author Professor Peter Elwood, honorary professor at Cardiff University, said: “We found that at any time after a diagnosis of cancer, about 20% more of the patients who took aspirin were alive, compared with patients not taking aspirin.”
They also wrote to an author on each of the papers asking about any stomach or other bleeding episodes and found that a small number of patients had experienced a bleed, but there was no evidence of any excess deaths attributable to bleeding in the patients on aspirin.
Professor Elwood said their findings suggest that not aspirin helps to cut risk of death and reduces metastatic spread.
“There is now a considerable body of evidence to suggest a significant reduction in mortality in patients with cancer who take aspirin – and that benefit appears to not be restricted to one or a few cancers,” he said.
“Aspirin therefore appears to deserve serious consideration as an adjuvant treatment of cancer and patients with cancer and their carers should be informed of the available evidence.
“However, we must also stress that aspirin is not a possible alternative to any other treatment.”
Professor Elwood led a team in 1974 with Professor Archie Cochrane at the Medical Research Council’s Unit in Wales and was the first to show that taking an aspirin tablet a day reduced deaths from heart disease and stroke by about 24%.
“Further research into aspirin and cancer would clearly be of great value, and new studies should be encouraged, especially if focused on some of the less common cancers,” he added.
Elwood PC, Morgan G, Delon C et al. Aspirin and cancer survival: a systematic review and meta-analyses of 118 observational studies of aspirin and 18 cancers. eCancermedicalscience 2 July 2021
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