Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27428004›Full record

ArticlePloS one2016

The Protective Effect of Low-Dose Aspirin against Colorectal Cancer Is Unlikely Explained by Selection Bias: Results from Three Different Study Designs in Clinical Practice.

Lucía Cea Soriano, Montse Soriano-Gabarró, Luis A García Rodríguez

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
5.5field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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  12. Conditions Associated with Essential Tremor in Veterans: A Potential Role for Chronic Stress.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2018
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Lucía Cea SorianoSpanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research, Madrid, Spain.
Montse Soriano-GabarróEpidemiology, Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.
Luis A García RodríguezSpanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research, Madrid, Spain.
Centro Español de Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica · ESBayer (Germany) · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe conducted three differently designed nested case-control studies to evaluate whether the protective effect of low-dose aspirin against colorectal cancer (CRC) is explained by selection bias.

methodsUsing a large validated UK primary care database, we followed different cohorts of patients, who varied in their demographic and clinical characteristics, to identify first ever cases of CRC. In Studies 1 and 2, two cohorts were followed, i) new users of low-dose aspirin at start of follow-up (N = 170,336 in Study 1, N = 171,527 in Study 2) and either ii) non-users of low-dose aspirin (Study 1, N = 170,336) or new users of paracetamol (Study 2, N = 149,597) at start of follow-up. In Study 3 a single cohort of individuals näive to low-dose aspirin at the start of observation was followed. Controls were selected using incidence sampling and logistic regression used to obtain an unbiased estimate of the incidence rate ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Low-dose aspirin exposure was analyzed 'as-treated' before the index date (CRC date for cases, random date for controls).

resultsIn the three studies, median (maximum) follow-up was 5.1 (12), 5.8 (12) and 7.5 (13) years, respectively. 3033 incident CRC cases were identified in Study 1, 3174 in Study 2, and 12,333 in Study 3. Current use of low-dose aspirin was associated with a significantly reduced risk of 34%, 29% and 31% in the three studies, respectively; corresponding RRs (95% CIs) were 0.66 (0.60-0.73), 0.71 (0.63-0.80) and 0.69 (0.64-0.74). In each study, significantly reduced risks of CRC were seen when low-dose aspirin was used for primary or secondary cardiovascular disease prevention, in both sexes, and across all age groups evaluated.

conclusionLow-dose aspirin is associated with a significantly reduced risk of CRC. The consistency of our findings across different studies makes selection bias an unlikely explanation.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnticarcinogenic AgentsAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalAspirinCase-Control StudiesColorectal NeoplasmsDose-Response Relationship, DrugFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSelection BiasAnticarcinogenic AgentsAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalAspirin

Identifiers

PMID27428004
PMCPMC4948817
OpenAlexW2497738363

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.