Does Low Dose Aspirin Cause Cancer? #generalphysician #cancerprevention

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Eric Shaver, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, reaching out with another medical research update. And today I want to talk a little bit about aspirin and colon cancer. There is an analysis of something called the ASPREE trial that was recently completed and published looking at some follow-up after the completion of the trial.

[00:00:18]ASPREE was about using aspirin to prevent adverse events in patients. And we're talking about low-dose 100 mg per day aspirin. There had been some prior research that had shown in addition to the benefits for using aspirin in prevention of secondary events in cardiovascular disease that it also may help to prevent colon cancer. However, what this data showed was something quite to the contrary. What it showed was no effect on the incidence of colon cancer and an actual increase in cancer mortality relating to colon cancer and in aggressive cancers. So, we looked back in this study as well and looked at what happened after people completed the trial.

[00:01:08]Because this was a trial that compared low-dose aspirin to placebo. And when we did a 10-year follow-up looking at the patients in the trial once they had stopped aspirin, we did not see that increased mortality continue. So, it's an effect that only happens when people were taking aspirin. We're still not sure exactly why this occurred and we're still not absolutely certain that it is a real effect. But the data from this trial does make me think it is. What does this mean for individuals who are taking aspirin? It means that number one, the increase we saw in cancer mortality was very small.

[00:01:50]So, if you are taking low-dose aspirin because you had a prior heart attack or stroke, keep taking it because the benefit you get from a cardiovascular perspective far outweighs this increased risk of colon cancer. It also means that if you are taking low-dose aspirin, getting your colon cancer screening as ordered is very important.

[00:02:10]Additionally, this is yet another reason why it doesn't make sense for primary prevention. Meaning if you've not had a prior event, if you don't have known advanced atherosclerotic heart disease, then it does not make sense to take low-dose aspirin. The risk outweighs the benefit. Anyways, hope this is helpful and I'll talk to you again next time.