ASPIRIN slashes cancer rates in people with hereditary risk by more than half, according to a major drug trial led by a North- East scientist.

The groundbreaking research proves that taking a regular dose of aspirin reduces the long-term risk of cancer in people with a family history of the disease by about 60 per cent.

The international drug trial – led by Newcastle University genetics expert Professor Sir John Burn and published in The Lancet – shows that the benefits of taking aspirin only become obvious after a few years.

Evidence of the benefits of aspirin has been accumulating for more than 20 years but these are the first results from a randomised trial involving cancer patients.

Late last year an analysis of people who had taken part in the early aspirin trials to prevent heart attacks and strokes showed that in subsequent years they developed fewer cancers.

Prof Burn said: “What we have finally shown is that aspirin has a major preventative effect on cancer but this doesn’t become apparent until years later.”

The study, involving scientists and clinicians from 43 centres in 16 countries, followed nearly 1,000 patients, in some cases for more than ten years.

The trial was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the European Union and Bayer Pharma.

The study focused on people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder which affects genes responsible for repairing damage in the DNA. About half of these people develop cancer, mainly in the bowel and womb.

Between 1999 and 2005 a total 861 people began either taking two aspirins (600 mg) every day for two years or a dummy pill, known as a placebo.

At the end of the treatment stage in 2007 there was no difference between those who had taken aspirin and those who had not.

By 2010 there had been 19 new colorectal cancers among those who had received aspirin and 34 among those on placebo. The incidence of cancer among the group that had taken aspirin had halved – and the effect began to be seen five years after patients starting taking the aspirin.

In patients who took aspirin for at least two years a 63 per cent reduced incidence of colorectal cancer was observed with 23 bowel cancers in the placebo group but only 10 in the aspirin group.

Looking at all cancers related to Lynch syndrome, including cancer of the womb, almost 30 per cent of the patients taking the placebo had developed a cancer compared to about 15 per cent of those taking the aspirin.

“Before anyone begins to take aspirin on a regular basis they should consult their doctor as aspirin is known to bring with it a risk of stomach complaints including ulcers,”

Sir John said.

“However, if there is a strong family history of cancer then people may want to weigh up the costbenefits particularly as these days drugs which block acid production in the stomach are available over the counter.”

Audrey Francis, 63, a mother- oftwo and grandmother of three, from Blyth, Northumberland, who stayed clear of cancer while she was on the trial, said: “I think it is a wonderful thing that the lowly aspirin, which has been around for years, still had some hidden secrets.”

The international team is now preparing a follow-up trial and wants to recruit 3,000 people across the world to test different doses of aspirin.

Information about the trial can be found at capp3.org