Study: Aspirin May Reduce Cancer Deaths

A daily baby aspirin may lower people’s risk of dying of some cancers, a study suggests. But doctors said the results were not strong enough to advise aspirin for people at average risk. Aspirin can cause side effects, such as bleeding. Researchers looked at 8 previous studies. They included more than 25,000 people. Most of the studies compared men who took a daily baby aspirin to those who took a placebo (fake pill). The studies lasted an average of 4 years. Researchers followed up further by looking at national cancer registries. Then they estimated people’s risk of cancer death in the next 20 years. They said people who took aspirin would be 20% less likely to die of cancer than people who took the placebo. Only one-third of those in the study were women. Therefore, researchers could not estimate the risk of breast cancer death.