New Studies Show Aspirin May Cut Your Risk of Cancer

Here we are well into the 21st century and it turns out that a simple drug understood for its analgesic, anti-pyretic and anti-inflammatory properties since about 1543 B.C. in Egypt, and first manufactured way back in 1899, may significantly reduce your risk of cancer.
 
New studies from the University of Oxford showcase aspirin as a cancer prevention wonder drug. Here's a brief summary of the evidence as just  reported in two studies in The Lancet and a third in Lancet Oncology:

•  For people who had been diagnosed with cancer and took 75 mg of aspirin a day, there was a 36% lower risk of metastatic cancer than for those who didn't take aspirin.
• In a meta-analysis review of 51 earlier studies, it was shown that those who took less than 300 mg of aspirin daily had a 25% lower risk of developing any type of cancer after three years and cut the risk of death from cancer by 15%.
• Metastatic adenocarcinoma, which affects the prostate, lungs and colon, was reduced 46% among those who took aspirin.
• Metastatic cancers were reduced by between 38% and 42% in breast, colon, esophageal, throat and biliary cancer.

How? The researchers aren't certain. Since the spread of cancer seems to depend on platelet movement through the body, it's possible that metastasis may be reduced due to aspirin's inhibition of platelet cell function. 

What to do? Most of us should probably start taking aspirin, probably 75 mg - 300 mg a day. But due to the potential risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and hemorrhagic stroke, it's important to check with your healthcare provider before starting to do that. 

Aspirin is widely available over the counter and is inexpensive. Imagine if it turns out to have the widespread positive impact on health that these studies suggest may be possible.