New research suggests that a regular dose of aspirin could reduce the risk of cancer.
Researchers at Newcastle University and the University of Leeds found that "taking one or two baby aspirins a day for at least five years was tied to a lower risk of colorectal cancer," Reuters Health reported.
Their study also revealed that aspirin also counteracted the cancer risk in overweight adults, who have more than twice the risk of developing colon cancer.
"Lots of people struggle with their weight and this suggests the extra cancer risk can be cancelled by taking an aspirin," Professor Sir John Burn, who led the research collaboration, said in a statement. "This research adds to the growing body of evidence which links an increased inflammatory process to an increased risk of cancer."
For the international study, researchers from 16 countries followed nearly 1,000 patients for 10 years.
The study participants began either taking two aspirins (600 mg) every day for two years or a placebo. When they were followed up ten years later, 55 had developed bowel cancers and those who were obese were more than twice as likely to develop this cancer -- in fact 2.75 times as likely.
"The lesson for all of us is that everyone should try to maintain a healthy weight and for those already obese the best thing is to lose weight. However, for many patients this can be very difficult so a simple aspirin may be able to help this group," Mathers said.
The findings are detailed in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
