Taking aspirin regularly has been linked to a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer, but the evidence hasn’t been strong enough to recommend taking it just for that purpose.
Now, Boston researchers report that people who began taking aspirin after they already had colorectal cancer were less likely to die than patients who didn’t, especially if they had high levels of the enzyme COX-2 in their tumors. The study doesn’t definitively prove that aspirin caused better survival rates, but the COX-2 link fits with other research showing that aspirin inhibits inflammation-producing COX-2, which is abundant in most colorectal tumors.
Dr. Andrew Chan of Massachusetts General Hospital led a team that followed more than 1,200 men and women enrolled in two large studies who later developed colorectal cancer. After about 12 years, almost 200 people had died. Patients who began taking aspirin after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer had a 49 percent lower risk of dying from the cancer, compared to people who did not take aspirin. The difference was greater among people whose tumors were high in COX-2. In that group, the risk of dying from cancer if they began taking aspirin after diagnosis was 61 percent lower than for non-aspirin users with similar COX-2 levels.
BOTTOM LINE: People who took aspirin regularly after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer had a lower risk of dying than similar people who didn’t take aspirin, especially if they had tumors that produced high levels of the COX-2 enzyme.
CAUTIONS: This observational study can’t prove that aspirin caused better survival, so routine use is not recommended; aspirin has side effects such as bleeding in the intestinal tract.
WHAT’S NEXT: If further studies establish a link between aspirin and cancer survival, treatment could be tailored depending on COX-2 levels in patients’ tumors.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Journal of the American Medical Association, Aug. 12
Diet and kidney stones
People who suffer from kidney stones have a battle on their hands if they try to prevent them by staying away from specific foods. If they avoid eating meat, for example, they might lower their risk. But if they end up eating more sugars, they might increase their risk. To complicate the picture, research has shown that the risk of certain nutrients differs between men and women and between younger and older women.Dr. Eric Taylor of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his colleagues tested a complete diet instead of isolated foods to see if that had an effect. Because kidney stones are linked to higher rates of high blood pressure, they chose the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, better known as the DASH diet. High in fruits and vegetables, moderate in low-fat dairy products, and low in animal protein, salt, and sweets, the diet contains some foods linked to high risk and others linked to low risk of kidney stones.
The more than 200,000 study subjects came from three existing large studies followed for 14 to 18 years and classified by how close their diets came to the DASH ideal. People whose diets came closest to meeting the DASH ideal were 40 percent to 45 percent less likely to develop kidney stones than people who followed the DASH diet the least. Lower kidney stone risk and higher DASH scores were consistent among men, older women, and younger women. The connection also persisted when differences in age, body size, fluid intake, and other factors were considered.
BOTTOM LINE: People who closely followed a diet known to lower blood pressure had a lower risk of kidney stones than people who didn’t stick to the diet.
CAUTIONS: It is possible the diet contains unknown factors that affect the risk of kidney stones.
WHAT’S NEXT: A randomized trial is needed to compare the DASH diet to medications used to prevent kidney stones.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, online Aug. 13
ELIZABETH COONEY 
