Taking a low-dose aspirin (160 mg per day) halved the risk of cancer recurrence in about one-third of colon cancer patients with PI3K gene mutations, scientists reported at the 2025 American Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology conference in San Francisco. The Journal of Clinical Oncology covered this finding in its publication.
PI3K mutations occur in approximately 30% of all colon cancers, the researchers noted, and they can make the disease more aggressive and difficult to treat.
Aspirin effectively reduces relapse rates and improves disease-free survival in more than a third of these patients,” said lead researcher Dr. Anna Martling, a professor of surgery at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
The study involved more than 600 patients from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway with mid-to-late-stage colon or rectal cancer.
Patients were divided into two groups, with one taking aspirin and the other a placebo daily for three years.
The researchers found that patients with the PIK3CA mutation who took daily aspirin had a 51% lower risk of cancer recurrence (with relapse rate 7,7%) compared to those who took the placebo, with a recurrence rate of approximately 14.1%.
