Aspirin May Reduce Deadly Skin Cancer Risk

Regular doses of aspirin could reduce the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, according to a Stanford University study published Monday in the academic journal Cancer.

A large-scale study of nearly 60,000 post-menopausal Caucasian women concluded women who took aspirin at least twice a week could reduce their risk of melanoma by 20 percent.

Caucasian women and men are at the highest risk for the deadly skin cancer, which takes one life every hour in the U.S.

Study author Jean Tang, M.D. Ph.D, cautioned the study is not definitive and that the impact of daily use of aspirin is not fully known.

"We don't know how much aspirin should be taken, or for how long, to be most effective," Tang said.

But, she did point out that the findings are "one more piece of the prevention puzzle."