DOCTORS and volunteers are being recruited to test the aspirin as a means of preventing one of Scotland's most lethal cancers.

The humble painkiller is being used with an anti-ulcer drug to try to prevent Barrett's oesophagus from developing into cancer of the oesophagus, or gullet. Barrett's oesophagus is responsible for around half of all oesophageal cancers.

Patients with the condition have stomach acid that rises into the oesophagus, usually causing heartburn. The acid damages the cells in the lining of the oesophagus and in some cases they turn cancerous.

The trial, funded by Cancer Research UK, aims to see if aspirin and the anti-ulcer drug can prevent this condition of the oesophagus worsening.

The number of cases of oesophageal cancer has increased by more than 10% in a decade. There are 7000 cases in the UK and 800 in Scotland every year.

The trial is one of the largest cancer prevention trials in the world, with 5000 people recruited from more than 50 UK centres.