A daily dose of aspirin doubles men’s risk of developing skin cancer, a major study has found.

Researchers expressed their surprise at the results because aspirin, which generally reduces heart attack risk, is reported to reduce the chance of getting gastric, colon, prostate and breast cancer.

Scientists compared medical record data of almost 200,000 patients who either used aspirin or didn’t, all of whom were aged from 18 to 89, and had no history of melanoma.