Aspirin claims another title: Cancer Fighter

New research presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress has found that in a study of cancer patients in the Netherlands, a daily dose of aspirin can improve the life expectancy of those experiencing cancers of  the gastrointestinal tract.
The patients, who commonly presented tumours in the colon, rectum or oesophagus, were twice as likely to be still alive after a four-year-period as those who did not take aspirin.
Prof Peter Naredi, scientific co-chair of the 2015 European Cancer Congress said: “We have good evidence that the frequent use of aspirin in the population can prevent some cases of colorectal (bowel) cancer. Now, Frouws and colleagues show that in over 13,000 patients who were diagnosed with a gastrointestinal cancer, aspirin also improved survival compared with those who did not use it.
“With more and more data to support the beneficial role of aspirin, we must consider whether we should recommend it to a wider public.”
The benefits of the regular use of aspirin in preventing bowel, pancreatic and even breast cancer have been studied but researchers cautioned against it being hailed as a prophylactic wonder-drug.