Aspirin is one of the oldest drugs on the market and has been mostly used to treat headaches, fever and arthritis.

It has also recently been discovered that aspirin possesses anti-cancer properties and that low-dose aspirin taken once daily for a number of years can reduce the overall risk of death due to several types of cancer by 20 per cent.

The benefits of aspirin are more significant for people over 50 as the chances of getting cancer increase with age. However, its effects are gradual and generally aspirin must be consumed routinely for a minimum of five years in order for it to effectively prevent cancer, according to Gianluca Farrugia, a Research Support Officer at the University of Malta.

The mechanism underlying aspirin’s anti-cancer effect is still unclear and Dr Farrugia, is attempting to understand this mechanism using Baker’s yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

Yeast cells possess the same basic structure as human cells and have long proved to be an ideal biological experimental model.

Currently, there are two hypotheses as to why aspirin reduces the risk of cancer. First, aspirin reduces inflammation and cell proliferation, two conditions heavily associated with cancer. Secondly, aspirin induces a form of cell suicide, called apoptosis, in cancer cells. Hence, aspirin helps cells to shut down, an ability lost in cancer cells which are essentially ‘immortal’ cells that tend to multiply and form cell clusters known as tumours.

Given its anti-cancer effects, the question now is whether healthy people should begin to take a daily dose of aspirin to shield against cancer.

“The scientific research community is trying to answer this. Doctors are hesitant to prescribe aspirin to healthy people because of its potential gastrointestinal side-effects,” Dr Farrugia warned. Research suggests, however, that only one in every thousand people suffers from life-threatening gastrointestinal side-effects caused by aspirin.

Another concern is the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium present in the stomach of half the world’s population, which can cause inflammation and potentially worsen the gastrointestinal side-effects of aspirin. In such cases, antibiotics should be taken prior to taking aspirin to kill the bacterium. Some individuals are also allergic to aspirin. Improved variants of aspirin with fewer side effects are being produced but are still undergoing clinical trials.

Dr Farrugia emphasised that aspirin is not a cure but rather, a promising preventive of cancer, the use of which requires the go-ahead of your GP.

 Alternative cancer preventive measures include regular exercise and the consumption of fruit, vegetables and nuts, many of which contain the same beneficial salicylate component found in aspirin.