Aspirin ‘can improve survival in gastrointestinal cancers’

Patients with tumours situated throughout the gastrointestinal tract could see improved survival through the use of aspirin, according to new research.

The study from Leiden University analysed data from 13,715 patients who had been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal cancer between 1998 and 2011 and showed an association between aspirin use after a cancer diagnosis and overall survival. 

Patients using aspirin after their diagnosis had a chance of survival that was twice as high as that seen among those who did not use it in the same circumstances.

This beneficial effect was observed in patients with gastrointestinal tumours after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as sex, age, stage of cancer, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and the presence of other medical conditions or disorders.

Trial coordinator Dr Martine Frouws of Leiden University Medical Centre said the study "demonstrates the considerable benefit of a cheap, well-established and easily obtainable drug in a larger group of patients, while still targeting the treatment to a specific individual".