TAKING ONE ASPIRIN every day can significantly reduce an individual’s risk of developing cancer and help in treating the disease, new research has suggested.

The papers published UK medical journal The Lancet appear to show that low doses of the common painkiller can help stop tumours spreading from one area of the body to others.

Patients taking between 75mg and 300mg of aspirin a day saw their risk of cancer drop by 25 per cent within three years. By five years, the decrease was 37 per cent, the BBC reports.

One dramatic finding of the study was that patients with localised colorectal cancer saw the risk of having their tumours spread drop by 74 per cent with daily low-dose aspirin, according to WebMD.

Many older people already take aspirin regularly for blood pressure disorders.

The research involved analysis of results from 51 trials, comprising more than 77,000 patients altogether.

Study leader Professor Peter Rothwell told the Daily Telegraph: “These data do push the argument in favour of taking daily low-dose aspirin, particularly if you have a family history of heart disease or cancer.”

Previous studies led by Rothwell had shown similar effects but over a much longer time-frame, with the decrease in cancer risk only apparent around ten years after beginning regular doses.