Aspirin has long been believed to combat heart attacks and disease when taken daily, but a new British study shows that low doses of the OTC drug, when taken on a daily basis, may prevent cancer as well.

The study, which was performed at the University of Oxford in England, showed that people who took aspirin daily were 25% less likely to develop cancer than the people who didn’t have an aspirin regimen. And after five years, researchers say, it also reduced the risk of death from the disease by almost 40%. A second study found that a daily dose of aspirin led to a 36% reduction in cancer being spread to other organs, a feature of the disease that makes it so difficult to get a handle on, cure-wise.

Because aspirin interferes with the body’s ability to clot blood, it is not recommended that anyone start a regimen before consulting with their doctor. The researchers who conducted the study also want to be clear that their findings are not conclusive because the study wasn’t specifically designed to find the effects on cancer prevention.

Last year a similar study found that aspirin may help reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Twitter users have taken to the site to tweet their thoughts on whether to be hopeful that this could mean something big for the future of cancer research: