Fox Chase Researchers Present Findings on Uptake of Aspirin for Lynch Syndrome Chemoprevention at 2024 CGA-IGC Meeting

Michael Hall, MD, MS, FASCO

In patients with Lynch syndrome, the use of aspirin as a form of chemoprevention is lower than anticipated, according to a new study by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center to be presented at the 2024 meeting of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC).

Lynch syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder that increases an individual’s risk of developing certain kinds of cancer. Studies have shown that in patients with this disorder, taking aspirin may be an effective form of chemoprevention, the use of medication or supplements to prevent cancer from occurring.

“What’s been interesting is that even though there have been studies done and there have been some recommendations in the national guidelines, we were seeing in our practice at Fox Chase that folks just weren’t using aspirin as much as we would have expected,” said Michael Hall, MD, MS, FASCO, Chair of the Department of Clinical Genetics at Fox Chase and lead author on the study.

“We’ve known for many years that aspirin has preventive benefits. Even in the average risk population and in those who have polyps, aspirin has benefits for colon cancer prevention, so I was surprised by the numbers,” said Hall.

To determine the prevalence of aspirin use among patients with Lynch syndrome on a broader scale, researchers developed a survey which recruited participants through patient advocacy sites for Lynch syndrome. The survey was completed by 180 individuals nationally and internationally.

“What we found was that the numbers were almost exactly the same as we found at Fox Chase. The overall uptake of use of aspirin was 36.8%. But only about roughly 25% of that was for Lynch syndrome specifically. People were taking aspirin for cardiovascular disease or other reasons,” said Hall.

When they investigated these numbers, they found that they did not appear to be related to demographics or disease-related factors but instead were related to the perceived pros and cons of using aspirin as a form of chemoprevention.

“Interestingly, we found that when patients compared the benefits of aspirin to getting something like a colonoscopy, they were much less reassured by the benefits of aspirin than they were reassured by the benefits of a colonoscopy.”

Ongoing research such as the recently completed CAPP3 study, which looked at various doses of aspirin chemoprevention in Lynch syndrome, continue to add to knowledge about the benefits of aspirin in chemoprevention. If results like these continue to be positive, it will be an essential source of reassurance for both patients and providers who work with these high-risk patients, said Hall. At the same time, it will only increase the importance of understanding what factors drive high-risk patients’ decisions about using available chemoprevention measures like aspirin.

Hall will present the study, “Uptake of Aspirin Chemoprevention in Patients With Lynch Syndrome,” at the 2024 CGA-IGC meeting, being held in Philadelphia November 14-16.