Landmark trial assessing aspirin benefit for cancer patients launched

A landmark study has been launched that aims to examine whether taking aspirin every day can stop some of the most common cancers from recurring.

The Add-Aspirin phase III trial is the largest of its kind in the world and has been funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health Research. It will be conducted at more than 100 centres across the UK and is set to run for up to 12 years.

A total of 11,000 patients who have recently had or are having treatment for bowel, breast, oesophagus, prostate or stomach cancer will be enrolled. The purpose will be to find out if taking aspirin every day for five years can stop or delay cancers that have been caught and treated at an early stage from returning, as well as finding out how this occurs.

If it is found that aspirin can work this way, it could represent a new frontier for cancer treatment, offering a cheap and simple way to help stop the disease from recurring and improving survival rates.

Dr Fiona Reddington, Cancer Research UK's head of population research, said: "Aspirin's possible effects on cancer are fascinating and we hope this trial will give us a clear answer on whether or not the drug helps stop some cancers coming back."