An Aspirin a Day Cuts Cancer Risk

A daily low dose of aspirin has long been recommended as a way of lowering stroke and heart attack risk, but new studies published this week suggest it also greatly reduces cancer risk. The UK studies found that after taking 75mg to 300mg of aspirin per day for just three years, cancer risk was reduced by about 25%, the BBC reports. After five years, the risk of death from cancer was cut by 37%, the Telegraph adds.

The daily dose of aspirin was also found to cut the risk—by up to half—of cancer metastasizing to other parts of the body. Despite the positive results, doctors remain wary because of aspirin's link to stomach bleeding and hemorrhagic strokes, the New York Times notes. In addition, critics point out that the new research omits two US studies that did not find aspirin reduced cancer risk; however, those studies involved every-other-day aspirin, not daily aspirin. (More aspirin stories.)