Aspirin could help prevent cancer

Bathroom cabinet staple aspirin could help prevent oesophageal cancer among those at high risk of the disease, research says.

Patients living with Barrett’s oesophagus – a condition linked to chronic acid reflux – are more likely to go on to develop the cancer, which kills thousands in the UK every year.

Regularly taking a high dose of anti-acid reflux medication and a low dose of aspirin could help reduce this risk, according to the results of a Cancer Research Uk-funded study.

Patients who used this overthe-counter medicine combination for at least seven years were around 20% less likely to develop oesophageal cancer than if they had been untreated, the research found.

Professor Janusz Jankowski, lead author of the study, said: “Oesophageal cancer is hard to diagnose and hard to treat.

“So, we’re pleased that such a cheap and well-established medicine can prevent and, or, delay development of cancer for these patients.

“Our hope is that this may also offer an opportunity to prevent oesophageal cancer in wider populations.”

However, experts stressed only those with diagnosed Barrett’s oesophagus, not those who experience mild acid reflux, should consider the treatment.

Patients with the rare condition are at around a 50% greater risk of oesophageal cancer, Cancer Research UK said.

While just 2% go on to develop the disease, of those who do only 12% will survive for more than 10 years.