The UK has begun the world's largest clinical trial to date. Their goal is to prove that aspirin can prevent any forms of cancer from recurring. This will involve people who have had early bowel, breast, prostate, stomach and esophageal cancer detected. There are still uncertainties about the drug's possible anti-cancer qualities that have led to years of debate among medical practitioners.
It will be a "game-changing" event if scientists prove this to be true. It will also give patients a cheap and effective way to help them survive. BBC news reported that the study is funded by the charity Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the research arm of the NHS. During the study the patients will be asked to take a tablet every day for five years. Researchers will then compare the groups of patients taking different doses of aspirin with people taking fake (placebo) pills and check for any recurrences of cancer.
Dr. Fiona Reddington from the Cancer Research UK explained that the trial is the most exciting part of the study. Cancers that recur are often harder to treat, so being able to find a cheap and effective way to prevent this is possibly life-changing for patients. Scientists however, warned that aspirin is not for everyone and especially without medical advice. Taking the drug every day might cause a serious health hazard such as ulcers and bleeding from the stomach, or the brain.
Professor Ruth Langley, lead investigator of the trial said there's been some exciting research saying that aspirin could delay or stop cancers detected at an early stage from recurring but there's been no materialized trial to give clear proof. "The trial's goal is to answer this question once and for all." She added.
If we find that aspirin does indeed stop these cancers from returning, it could change future treatment of the disease. It will be providing a cheap and simple method to help stop cancer coming back and helping more people survive, she continued.
