Heart tablet warfarin which costs just two pence a day ‘cuts risk of getting cancer by 61 per cent’, scientists claim

TAKING a 2p-a-day heart drug cuts the risk of getting cancer by up to 61 per cent, researchers say.

Warfarin, taken to prevent blood clots, strokes and heart attacks, reduced the threat for all patients.

But for those with an irregular heartbeat — a common condition known as atrial fibrillation — it was even more effective.

Those people saw their chance of getting any cancer slashed by 38 per cent and of getting lung cancers by 61 per cent.

Prof James Lorens, of Norway’s Bergen University, said: “Our main finding is that a drug that has been in clinical use for more than 50 years and used by millions of adults worldwide, may protect against cancer.”

Nearly 11million prescriptions for warfarin were dispensed by the NHS last year. The blood-thinning drug costs as little as 63p for a month’s supply.

Its potential to protect against cancer emerged from a study of 1.2million over-50s.

The researchers say warfarin cuts the risk of getting any cancer by 16 per cent.

They believe it works by boosting the immune system’s ability to kill tumour cells.

And they warn switching to newer clot-busting drugs will lead to more cancer cases.

But Katie Edmunds, from Cancer Research UK, said the study ignored other risk factors such as smoking.

She added: “There is little strong evidence that warfarin reduces the risk of cancer.”