Post-diagnosis aspirin improves survival in all gastrointestinal cancers

Note that aspirin depresses the immune system, so it might not go well with chemo.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/eeco-pda092515.php

Public Release: 27-Sep-2015
Post-diagnosis aspirin improves survival in all gastrointestinal cancers
ECCO-the European CanCer Organisation

Aspirin improves survival in patients with tumours situated throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, results from a large study in The Netherlands show. This is the first time that survival data from patients with tumours in different GI locations have been analysed at the same time; previously, only one type of cancer, usually colorectal, was studied. The results of the study, involving nearly 14,000 patients, may lead to new insights regarding the use of aspirin in GI cancer say the researchers.

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In total, 30.5% of patients used aspirin pre-diagnosis, 8.3% were solely post-diagnosis users, and 61.1% had not taken aspirin at all. The commonest sites for tumours were colon (42.8% of patients), rectum (25.4%), and oesophagus (10.2%). Median follow-up time for all patients was 48.6 months, with 28% of patients surviving for at least five years. Patients using aspirin after their diagnosis had a chance of survival twice as high than that of those who did not use it in the same circumstances. The beneficial effect of aspirin use on survival was seen in patients with GI tumours after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as sex, age, stage of cancer, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other medical conditions or disorders.

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The scientists believe that the beneficial effect of aspirin in cancer is due to its antiplatelet effect. Platelets are a blood component whose function is to stop bleeding by clumping and clogging blood vessel injuries. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are thought to hide themselves from the immune system with the help of the clothing of platelets that surround them. Aspirin inhibits platelet function and therefore allows the immune system to recognise CTCs and eliminate them.

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