There are a lot of stories in the media about this at the moment. it is true that some studies have seemed to show that if you take aspirin regularly it can reduce your chance of dying from certain cancers. Last December a very large study was published which does show a definite and significant drop in mortality rates over 5 years, especially for gastrointestinal cancers.

There has been growing evidence for some years that aspirin has a number of health benefits, so these new findings don't come as a complete surprise. However, most experts agree that the data are not yet certain enough for doctors to start recommending that we take aspirin regularly - for one thing, even if it improves life expectancy in cancer patients, it is less sure whether it has much effect in preventing you from developing it in the first place. Also, taking too much aspirin can have side effects such as stomach ulcers, so doctors would be very careful about advising us to take it.