Recent studies showed the beneficial role of low-dose aspirin as an adjunct treatment for cancer. Reductions in mortality are shown in colon cancer, in prostate and breast cancer. Individual studies of several other cancers also suggest benefit. Available data on aspirin in primary prevention suggest a promising benefit for those at risk of cancer.
Future studies should help to elucidate whether the benefit of aspirin outweighs the risk in appropriate patient groups. The aspirin we know came into being in the late 1890s in the form of acetylsalicylic acid when chemist Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in Germany used it. It is an anti-inflammatory that has been taken from a natural source, redeveloped in laboratories, and put into pill form and sold to the masses. "Aspirin was originally derived from the herbs meadowsweet and willow bark and later synthesized by the pharmaceutical industry to…
