Cancer prevention with aspirin could favor patient factors

Patient characteristics may determine the efficacy of low-dose aspirin for cancer prevention.

In a secondary analysis published in JAMA Oncology, investigators assessed the outcomes of more than 9,000 patients aged 70 years and older who were randomly assigned to receive 100 milligrams of aspirin per day or placebo.

After a median follow-up of 4.5 years, the investigators identified about 1,000 cancer cases among the study participants. The patients who had no history of smoking, a lower body mass index, a family history of cancer or clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential at a variant allele frequency of 10% or more were the most likely to benefit from a low-dose aspirin regimen; whereas patients who currently smoked or had a higher BMI were least likely to benefit.

The investigators stressed that clinicians should consider the effects of low-dose aspirin with regard to the risk of other diseases or adverse effects prior to prescribing to patients for cancer prevention.

Read more: JAMA Oncology

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