Potential cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer chemoprevention with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. Screening for colorectal neoplasia, including the removal of adenomas, is highly effective and cost-effective in reducing colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. However, only a minority of the population is currently screened. Based on data from animal models, observational studies and randomized trials in humans, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs appear to have great promise as chemopreventive agents against colorectal cancer. The critical factors that will determine the roles of aspirin, other nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in colorectal cancer chemoprevention include the magnitude of their protective effect, their risks, their costs, the treated population's characteristics, treatment adherence rates and how chemoprevention compares with established screening strategies.
Ladabaum
Uri
U
Division of Gastroenterology, S 357, Box 0538,University of California,513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0538, USA. ladabau@itsa.ucsf.edu