IMPORTANCE: The US Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended the use 
of aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer and cardiovascular disease among many US 
adults. However, the association of aspirin use with the risk for other cancer 
types and the potential population-wide effect of aspirin use on cancer, 
particularly within the context of screening, remain uncertain.
OBJECTIVES: To examine the potential benefits of aspirin use for overall and 
subtype-specific cancer prevention at a range of doses and durations of use and 
to estimate the absolute benefit of aspirin in the context of screening.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Two large US prospective cohort studies, the 
Nurses' Health Study (1980-2010) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study 
(1986-2012), followed up 135 965 health care professionals (88 084 women and 
47 881 men, respectively) who reported on aspirin use biennially. The women were 
aged 30 to 55 years at enrollment in 1976; the men, aged 40 to 75 years in 1986. 
Final follow-up was completed on June 30, 2012, for the Nurses' Health Study 
cohort and January 31, 2010, for the Health Professionals Follow-up Study 
cohort, and data were accessed from September 15, 2014, to December 17, 2015.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Relative risks (RRs) for incident cancers and 
population-attributable risk (PAR).
RESULTS: Among the 88 084 women and 47 881 men who underwent follow-up for as 
long as 32 years, 20 414 cancers among women and 7571 cancers among men were 
documented. Compared with nonregular use, regular aspirin use was associated 
with a lower risk for overall cancer (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99), which was 
primarily owing to a lower incidence of gastrointestinal tract cancers (RR, 
0.85; 95% CI, 0.80-0.91), especially colorectal cancers (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 
0.75-0.88). The benefit of aspirin on gastrointestinal tract cancers appeared 
evident with the use of at least 0.5 to 1.5 standard aspirin tablets per week; 
the minimum duration of regular use associated with a lower risk was 6 years. 
Among individuals older than 50 years, regular aspirin use could prevent 33 
colorectal cancers per 100 000 person-years (PAR, 17.0%) among those who had not 
undergone a lower endoscopy and 18 colorectal cancers per 100 000 person-years 
(PAR, 8.5%) among those who had. Regular aspirin use was not associated with the 
risk for breast, advanced prostate, or lung cancer.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Long-term aspirin use was associated with a modest 
but significantly reduced risk for overall cancer, especially gastrointestinal 
tract tumors. Regular aspirin use may prevent a substantial proportion of 
colorectal cancers and complement the benefits of screening.