The Daily Populous Sunday April 26th, 2026 night edition
Authored by bbc.com and submitted by Direct_Dare_9699

The 4,000-year-old drug, most commonly used to treat pain, prevents certain tumours from forming and spreading across the body – findings that are already changing health policies.

Nick James, a British furniture maker in his mid-40s, first became concerned about his health after his mother died from cancer and his brother, along with several other family members, later developed bowel cancer. He opted to undergo genetic testing, and was found to be carrying a faulty gene which causes Lynch Syndrome, a condition that significantly increases the risk of developing that type of cancer.

Help came from an unexpected place, however, when James became the first person to sign up for a clinical trial that set out to test whether a daily dose of aspirin – the over-the-counter painkiller – could protect against developing cancer.

Depending on the type of gene mutation, 10-80% of people with Lynch syndrome will get bowel cancer during their lifetime. But so far, things are looking good for James. "He's been on aspirin now with us for 10 years without any cancer so far," says John Burn, a professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University, who led the trial.

It sounds almost impossible to believe, yet there have long been indications that the drug might reduce the chances of colorectal cancer spreading, or even occurring in the first place. In the past year, a string of trials and studies have strengthened such evidence. Some countries have already changed their medical guidelines to include the pill as a first line of protection for those who are most at risk (though experts stress that this should only be done under your doctor's supervision). And we're finally beginning to understand the reasons why it has such a mysterious effect.

ginsoul on April 25th, 2026 at 09:07 UTC »

I read this half year ago, thought why not taking it preventative, start taking 1 Aspirin daily, one week in my stomach killed me...

herpesderpesdoodoo on April 25th, 2026 at 05:53 UTC »

While I am aware of the oncoprophylaxis conversation that's been going on for a few years and this is an interesting summary, I do raise my eyebrow at them saying "About a century later, scientists managed to synthesise salicylic acid into the less corrosive acetylsalicylic acid, and put it on the market under the brand name Bayer."

The brand name was Aspirin, produced by the company Bayer. One could say they're trying to say it's under the Bayer (company) brand but that's not how this reads. This is such a well known thing that it's often used as an example of how brand names become generic names through sheer market and cultural dominance, and if seems very weird for such an error to have been included.

Me_Krally on April 25th, 2026 at 05:28 UTC »

So it's not just a blood thinner for helping your cardio system now?