Patients with colorectal cancer who take aspirin have a better chance of survival, according to a study published by Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

According to the New York Times, the results were "striking. Patients with colorectal cancer who regularly used aspirin before and after a diagnosis were almost one-third less likely to die of the disease than non-users. Patients who initiated aspirin use only after a diagnosis did even better and had half the risk of dying from the cancer. possibly because of differences in their tumors."

What lends credence to the results is that doctors understand the biological mechanism by which aspirin may prevent the growth and slow the spread of colon cancer, since most colorectal cancer tumors are positive for cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2, an enzyme that is not expressed in a healthy colon but flares up under certain circumstances, and aspirin is a COX-2 inhibitor.

To read the full article and to access the journal's abstract, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/health/research/12aspirin.html?_r=1&ref=health