Cancer Research UK have announced that they are launching a UK trial investigating whether high doses of aspirin can help prevent permanent hearing loss, a common side effect among cancer patients given the chemotherapy drugs Cisplatin.

Dr Ralph Holme, Head of Biomedical Research at Cancer Research UK commented, “When it comes to treating a life-threatening illness like cancer, side effects such as hearing loss can be overlooked. Yet losing the capacity to communicate, isolating people from friends and family exactly when they need them the most, is devastating.

“As more people survive cancer, it is becoming ever more important that we find ways to reduce the damaging side effects of cancer treatments like Cisplatin. We will be following the trial with great interest in the hope it will lead to an easy and effective way of preventing hearing loss.”