Long-term aspirin use may prevent cancers

Taking aspirin may have a protective effect against a number of cancers, a new study suggests.

A trial involving more than 600,000 people found that long-term aspirin use appeared to reduce a person’s risk of a number of digestive cancers as well as leukaemia, lung and prostate cancer.

The study, which is to be presented to the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week meeting in Barcelona, had researchers comparing cancer incidence among non-aspirin users and people who had been prescribed the drug for at least six months.

Researchers analysed data from all public hospitals in Hong Kong. Patients were followed up for up to 14 years.

Aspirin users were 47 per cent less likely to have been diagnosed with cancers of the liver or oesophagus.