RESEARCHERS have discovered a mechanism by which aspirin could reduce metastasis of certain cancers by stimulating the immune system.
The team from Cambridge University said that the discovery could lead to the targeted use of aspirin to prevent the spread of susceptible cancers, and to the development of more effective drugs to prevent metastasis.
The research was prompted by previous observations in studies of people with cancer that those taking daily low-dose aspirin had a reduction in the spread of some cancers, such as breast, bowel and prostate cancers, and that led to ongoing clinical trials.
However, until now it wasn't known exactly how aspirin could prevent metastases, with the scientists describing their discovery as "serendipitous".
It is known that when individual cancer cells break away from their originating tumour and spread to another part of the body, they are particularly vulnerable to immune attack.
This is because the immune system can recognise and kill these lone cancer cells more effectively than cancer cells within larger originating tumours, which have often developed an environment that suppresses the immune system.
The researchers found the same molecule that is involved in blood clotting, called TXA2, also suppresses the immune system cells that would otherwise attack the metastatic cells.
Aspirin acts on a pathway that suppresses TXA2 and therefore reduces clotting - but it also releases the immune system cells from suppression so they can attack the metastatic cells.
"Most immunotherapies are developed to treat patients with established metastatic cancer, but when cancer first spreads there's a unique therapeutic window of opportunity when cancer cells are particularly vulnerable to immune attack," said Professor Rahul Roychoudhuri, who led the study.
"We hope that therapies that target this window of vulnerability will have tremendous scope in preventing recurrence in patients with early cancer at risk of recurrence."
Clinical trials are currently underway to determine how to use aspirin safely and effectively to prevent cancer spread, with the researchers warning that it can have serious side effects and people should consult their doctor before taking it.
Read the paper HERE. KB
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