Thinking about my decision

Why might I choose to take aspirin every day?

People with Lynch syndrome have a higher chance of getting bowel cancer.

Taking aspirin every day has been shown to lower the chance of getting bowel cancer.

What are my options?

You can choose to take aspirin every day, not to take aspirin, or wait to decide.

Not everyone can take aspirin. You would need to speak to your GP or genetics service about whether it is right for you.

What are the benefits of taking aspirin every day?

Taking aspirin would lower your chance of getting bowel cancer.

Your chance would still be higher than someone without Lynch syndrome.

The chance of bowel cancer would be affected by other things like if you are overweight or eat too much red meat.

Some people will still get bowel cancer even if they take aspirin. You would still have regular bowel screening to check for cancer.

There is some evidence that aspirin lowers your chance of getting other cancers, but not as much as it does for bowel cancer.

What are the disadvantages of taking aspirin every day?

Some people have side effects from taking aspirin every day.

The most common side effects are indigestion, bruising more easily and cuts taking longer to stop bleeding. There may be medicines you can take to help with these side effects.

The older you are, the more likely you are to have side effects.

You can talk to your GP or genetics service about options for managing these side effects.