Regular aspirin halves risk of bowel cancer, say researchers

New research has indicated that taking a regular dose of aspirin halves the risk of developing bowl and womb cancers.

A decade-long study involving patients with the genetic disorder Lynch syndrome found that those who took aspirin regularly displayed 50 per cent fewer incidences of hereditary cancer.

Lynch syndrome is a mutation that affects genes responsible for repairing damage in the DNA, with roughly half of sufferers going on to develop cancer in the bowel or womb.

The main risk is bowel cancer, as 90 per cent of men with the faulty gene will suffer from the disease by the time they reach 70.

Published in The Lancet, the new findings suggest regular aspirin could cause polyps – thought to be precursors to cancer – to destruct before they become cancerous.

Professor Patrick Morrison from Queen's University in Belfast, one of the institutions involved in the research, described the study as "a huge breakthrough in terms of cancer prevention".

He added: "Not only does it show we can reduce cancer rates and ultimately deaths, it opens up other avenues for further cancer prevention research."