One step closer to using aspirin to prevent cancer

Recent research has shown that daily aspirin use can prevent cancer, and now a new report by American Cancer Society scientists says that this growing body of data brings us considerably closer to the time when cancer prevention can be included in clinical guidelines for the use of aspirin. The report, published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, says even a 10 percent reduction in overall cancer incidence could tip the balance of benefits and risks favorably in average-risk populations. "The accumulating data from randomized clinical trials provide an exciting opportunity to reconsider the potential role of aspirin in cancer prevention," write the authors. They say several important questions remain unanswered, such as the exact magnitude of the overall cancer benefit and which individual cancer sites contribute to this benefit. "However, these new data bring us considerably closer to the time when cancer prevention can be integrated into the clinical guidelines."