In the famous words of Benjamin Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

While he may have been talking about fire safety rather than disease, this sentiment rings true for cancer, too. If there was a way to stop cancer from developing, then the stress, costs, and side effects that come with a diagnosis and treatment could be avoided.

The challenge is that not all cancers are preventable, and there’s no elixir of life to help us get around the biggest risk factor for the disease—getting older. But some can be prevented—around 4 in 10 in the UK—meaning there’s an opportunity to act and help reduce the burden of the disease.

For cancers where survival remains poor, like esophageal cancer, there’s potential to make the greatest difference for people. That’s why many of our scientists are working in this area, and new research showcases the progress they’re making.

A new Cancer Research UK-funded clinical trial has found that two over-the-counter, widely available drugs could help cut cases of esophageal cancer in people at higher risk of the disease. And when these drugs—a stomach acid blocker and aspirin—were used together, their effects were even greater.

“We weren’t expecting such overwhelmingly positive data,” says lead author Professor Janusz Jankowski from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, who is presenting the findings at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago.

“The drugs caused a reduction in overall death and esophageal cancers. It really surprised us how big the effect was, the effect for strong acid prevention was 4 times higher than we expected.”

Questions remain, such as who might benefit most from these drugs, and can they specifically prevent deaths from esophageal cancer. But the findings mark an important step toward progress against a disease that has lagged behind others.