CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 839Inflammatory mediators and NSAID effectsAntiplatelet Therapy and Cardiovascular DiseasesGlobal Cancer Incidence and Screening

Short-term effects of daily aspirin on cancer incidence, mortality, and non-vascular death: analysis of the time course of risks and benefits in 51 randomised controlled trials

Rothwell, Peter M, Price, Jacqueline F, Fowkes, F Gerald R, Zanchetti, Alberto, Roncaglioni, Maria Carla, Tognoni, Gianni, Lee, Robert, Belch, Jill FF +3 more·2012·The Lancet
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61720-0
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background Daily aspirin reduces the long-term risk of death due to cancer. However, the short-term effect is less certain, especially in women, effects on cancer incidence are largely unknown, and the time course of risk and benefit in primary prevention is unclear. We studied cancer deaths in all trials of daily aspirin versus control and the time course of effects of low-dose aspirin on cancer incidence and other outcomes in trials in primary prevention. Methods We studied individual patient data from randomised trials of daily aspirin versus no aspirin in prevention of vascular events. Death due to cancer, all non-vascular death, vascular death, and all deaths were assessed in all eligible trials. In trials of low-dose aspirin in primary prevention, we also established the time course of effects on incident cancer, major vascular events, and major extracranial bleeds, with stratification by age, sex, and smoking status. Results Allocation to aspirin reduced cancer deaths (562 vs 664 deaths; odds ratio [OR] 0·85, 95% CI 0·76-0·96, p=0·008; 34 trials, 69,224 participants), particularly from 5 years onwards (92 vs 145; OR 0·63, 95% CI 0·49-0·82, p=0·0005), resulting in fewer non-vascular deaths overall (1021 vs 1173; OR 0·88, 95% CI 0·78-0·96, p=0·003; 51 trials, 77,549 participants). In trials in primary prevention, the reduction in non-vascular deaths accounted for 87 (91%) of 96 deaths prevented. In six trials of daily low-dose aspirin in primary prevention (35,535 partic…

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61720-0

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Retrospective meta-analyses of selected randomized trials of mainly low-dose aspirin have suggested that aspirin use may result in an incidence of cancer or death from cancer that is 15 to 20% lower than that with control.

    “Retrospective meta-analyses of selected randomized trials of mainly low-dose aspirin have suggested that aspirin use may result in an incidence of cancer or death from cancer that is 15 to 20% lower than that with control. 10-13”

    From Effects of aspirin for primary prevention in persons with diabetes mellitus (2018) · cites this paper as [10]

  • In particular, reductions of 30 to 40% in the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers (particularly colorectal cancer) were observed, with the effects appearing to increase with more prolonged exposure and with longer follow-up up to 20 years.

    “In particular, reductions of 30 to 40% in the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers (particularly colorectal cancer) were observed, with the effects appearing to increase with more prolonged exposure and with longer follow-up up to 20 years.”

    From Effects of aspirin for primary prevention in persons with diabetes mellitus (2018) · cites this paper as [10]

  • Several meta-analyses of selected randomized trials of generally low-dose aspirin have suggested that aspirin use might reduce the risk of cancer-in particular gastrointestinal tract cancer-by up to one third during long-term follow-up, with effects becoming apparent approximately 3 years after randomization.

    “Several meta-analyses of selected randomized trials of generally low-dose aspirin have suggested that aspirin use might reduce the risk of cancer - in particular, gastrointestinal tract cancer - by up to one third during long-term follow-up, with effects becoming apparent approximately 3 years after randomization.”

    From Effects of aspirin for primary prevention in persons with diabetes mellitus (2018) · cites this paper as [10]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rothwell, P. M., Price, J. F., Fowkes, F. G. R., Zanchetti, A., Roncaglioni, M. C., Tognoni, G., Lee, R., Belch, J. F., Wilson, M., Mehta, Z., & Meade, T. W.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
  • University of Milan (IT)
  • Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research (IT)
  • University of London (GB)
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-04
Volume
379
Issue
9826
Pages
1602-1612
ISSN
  • 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
  • 0140-6736
DOI
10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61720-0
OpenAlex
W2111175587
Cited by
839
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 80 · 2015: 80 · 2014: 91 · 2013: 112 · 2012: 58
FWCI
12.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • The Lancet (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (095626)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Inflammatory mediators and NSAID effects
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Antiplatelet Therapy and Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
Keywords
aspirin, cancer incidence, cancer mortality, vascular death, primary prevention, women, smoking, bleeding risk, major vascular events, individual patient data meta-analysis, low-dose aspirin, cardiovascular disease prevention, cancer prevention, sex differences, smoking status, age stratification
MeSH terms
Antineoplastic Agents, Aspirin, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors, Incidence, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Risk Assessment

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review