What if taking aspirin could reduce your risk of cancer? Researchers have debated the relationship between inflammation and cancer for many years, but recent studies have reignited the discussion with evidence that taking aspirin daily for 5 years or longer can protect against death from colorectal and other solid cancers. If this observation indeed holds true, and aspirin can stave off cancer or reduce the risk of recurrence, this familiar, age-old drug could offer a tantalizingly simple treatment.
1 Earlier studies had shown that daily use of aspirin and other NSAIDs over extended periods reduced the risk of colorectal cancer or polyp recurrence, but no clear evidence was previously available, at least in humans, that aspirin might also reduce the risk of other cancers. In the new study, the benefit of aspirin use was apparent after at least five years of treatment. In trials in which the patients had been ...
