A common over-the-counter medication could significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer coming back.

In a Swedish study, a low dose of aspirin was shown to slash recurrence in half for patients with colon and rectal cancer whose tumors had a specific type of genetic mutation.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital followed more than 3,500 cancer patients from 33 hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, according to a press release. All patients had undergone surgery to remove their tumors.

Among those who had a particular gene mutation in the PIK3 signaling pathway, half of them received 160 milligrams of aspirin daily and the other half received a placebo.

After a three-year period, the risk of cancer recurrence was reduced by 55% in

See Full Page