Aspirin, the 3-cent painkiller whose origins can be traced to Hippocrates, reduces the chances of developing or dying from cancer earlier than previously thought and also prevents tumors from spreading, studies showed. People who took a daily dose of aspirin had a 24 percent lower rate of developing cancer after three years and were 37 percent less likely to die from the disease after five years than those who didn’t, according to a study in The Lancet medical journal today. The rate was similar for men and women.
