A clinical trial has started in the UK to determine whether using aspirin can stop cancer from returning, involving around 11,000 people nationwide.
Claimed to be the world's largest ever clinical trial of this kind, Add-Aspirin phase III will be conducted on patients who have recently had, or are having, treatment for bowel, breast, oesophagus, prostate or stomach cancer.
Funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the study will see people taking aspirin every day for five years.
UCL MRC Clinical Trials Unit chief investigator professor Ruth Langley said: "There's been some interesting research suggesting that aspirin could delay or stop early stage cancers coming back, but there's been no randomised trial to give clear proof.
"If we find that aspirin does stop these cancers returning, it could change future treatment."This trial aims to answer this question once and for all. If we find that aspirin does stop these cancers returning, it could change future treatment, providing a cheap and simple way to help stop cancer coming back and helping more people survive."
According to Cancer Research UK, the trial will take place at more than 100 centres across the country and will run for up to 12 years.
The study will compare two groups of people taking different doses of aspirin and a group taking a placebo.
It is already been proven that aspirin can prevent heart attacks and strokes in some people.
In addition, a recent research has shown that a regular dose of aspirin reduces the long-term risk of cancer in those who are overweight.
