Aspirin may reduce cancer risk

People may soon be advised to take a regular dose of aspirin in a bid to stave off cancer, heart disease and even senile dementia. Doctors believe there could be enough medical evidence in the next 10 years to support widespread use of the drug.

But they are also calling for more research on the extent of aspirin's known side-effects and warned patients not to self-prescribe.

A London conference on the uses of aspirin in preventing cancer heard there was increasing evidence of the drug's beneficial effect across a range of diseases.

It is already known to cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients by up to a third.

There is also evidence to suggest that it could help prevent breast, prostate and bowel cancers, which claim up to 17,000 lives a year. Professor Peter Elwood, the doctor who first discovered the benefits of aspirin in treating cardiovascular disease, told The Times: "There's already abundant evidence of aspirin's profound advantages to cardiovascular disease, a possible reduction of Alzheimer's and probable reduction in a number of cancers.

"Should everyone over 50 or 55 or 60 be advised to take aspirin every day? It is a very serious question that needs to be asked and I believe we should debate that question." But aspirin can occasionally-cause internal bleeding and even ruptured blood vessels in people with ulcers and weak stomach linings.

Pregnant women are also at risk because it can increase the risk of a miscarriage.

A recent study of 1,000 people who were at increased risk of bowel cancer found that those taking aspirin reduced the threat of developing pre-cancerous growths by 19 per cent. Trials are ongoing but initial results are said to be equally positive.

A further study carried of 80,000 women found that those who regularly used drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen had the risk of developing breast cancer cut by almost 30 per cent in comparison with those who did not.

Many experts have welcomed the findings as "encouraging" but expressed caution.

Nick Henderson, executive director of the Aspirin Foundation, said: "My personal view is that aspirin is a life-saving drug with huge potential.

"What the medical profession has to weigh up is the modest risk of sideeffects against the benefits of helping you live longer."

He now envisages a time when people over 50 or 60 are regularly recommended the drug by their GPs.