A pioneering clinical trial is aiming to make the treatment and prevention of returning cancer simpler and easier. Earlier this month, the Add-Aspirin Phase III Trial funded by Cancer Research UK, outlined plans to further explore the extraordinary evidence linking aspirin with the successful treatment of some of the most common cancers.
If the results are clear, what will this mean for the healthcare sector?
The trial, with 11,000 patients participating, will compare the results of two groups of participants taking different doses of aspirin, up against a further group taking a placebo.
Whilst there are indications that taking aspirin everyday may reduce the likelihood of cancer, it is widely thought that aspirin only helps an old cancer returning to a patient, instead of preventing it in the first place.
With the current methods of cancer treatment being expensive, in terms of equipment used as well as care staffing, this new trial could ease the pressure on both the budgetary dilemmas of the healthcare sector as well as the current shortfall in nursing skills.
Ultimately, if successful. the Add-Aspirin Phase III trial could help save 100,000 lives every year.
