Does aspirin prevent colon cancer?

For many years, the effect of NSAIDs on preventing colon cancer has been described. There are numerous studies showing a small but mostly consistent decrease in both the development of polyps, and the development of colorectal cancer with chronic NSAID use. However, thus far there has not been a recommendation to take NSAIDs specifically with the goal of reducing the development of colon cancer, since the risk of chronic NSAID use is thought to outweigh any benefit in cancer prevention.