"Daily aspirin https use long recommended for people at high risk of heart attack https may also reduce the risk of dying from cancer https according to new research. The benefit however may not be as great as believed says researcher Eric Jacobs PhD of the American Cancer https Society. A previous study by others found daily aspirin https reduced cancer https death risk by . In our analysis daily aspirin use was associated with about a  lower risk of dying from cancer https overall Jacobs says. He describes that reduction as modest. Even so he says our results provide additional support for the potential benefit of daily aspirin for reducing cancer mortality. He found an association not cause and effect. Many other strategies will also reduce the risk of cancer he says. Among them engaging in regular physical activity https maintaining a healthy weight https and not smoking https cigarettes. Continue Reading Below you might like The new analysis is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Aspirin and Cancer Risk Study Details Jacobs analyzed information from more than  people enrolled in a cancer prevention study. The men and women mostly white and older than age  in  reported their aspirin use over time. Nearly  reported daily aspirin use in . They were followed for up to  years. All who reported taking daily aspirin for any amount of time had the  risk reduction he found. Most of the reduced risk was found for colorectal stomach https and esophageal cancers. The evidence for aspirins benefit is strongest for those cancers he says. As for the discrepancy between studies Jacob says that it just shows there is still considerable uncertainty about how much daily aspirin would help. Exactly how aspirin helps prevent cancer death is not known for sure Jacobs says. One possibility is that aspirin may prevent cancer the same way it helps prevent heart attacks https he says by blocking the activation of the blood https platelets which help the blood https to clot. We know platelets that are activated can release substances that help tumors grow and spread he says. A decision to take daily aspirin should be made only with a doctors guidance Jacobs says. Even lowdose aspirin can lead to problems such as serious gastrointestinal bleeding he says. Daily Aspirin and Cancer Death Risk Perspective The new study stands out because it shows that how long someone takes aspirin doesnt matter says John A. Baron MD professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine who wrote an editorial to accompany the research. Baron says that aspirins effects on cardiovascular disease https risk are nearly immediate but that the cancer benefits take longer. Its not clear exactly when those benefits kick in he says. Many ideas about how aspirin may be cancerprotective are discussed he says. The evidence for aspirin protecting against colorectal cancer https is strongest he agrees. Aspirin inhibits the production of substances found in colorectal cancer https cell both normal and cancerous cells he says. He also warns against taking daily aspirin without a doctors OK. Aspirin is a real drug. Its safe but its still a drug. In his editorial he writes that the benefits must be balanced against the risks particularly when the benefits for cancer risk are delayed whereas the risks are not. Baron is a consultant to Bayer and for studies of the side effects of aspirin use. He holds a use patient for the chemo https use of aspirin currently not licensed."