Mutation Key to Aspirin’s Role in Colon Cancer

Aspirin may help to treat colon cancer among people who have a particular gene mutation, a new study suggests. The study focused on 964 people with colon cancer. As participants in 2 long-term health studies, they recorded what medicines they took. Researchers looked at the genes in people’s colon cancer tumors. They focused on a gene called PIK3CA. This gene is involved in one pathway that promotes the growth of cancer. Aspirin seems to interfere with this pathway. Researchers found that some people in the study had a mutation in the PIK3CA gene. In the first 5 years after diagnosis, 2 of the 62 regular aspirin users with the mutated gene died. In contrast, 23 of 90 people who had the mutation but did not take aspirin died. Researchers also looked at longer-term survival.