Scientists are closer to understanding how an everyday painkiller can help our bodies fight cancer. The findings may offer a complementary mechanism for preventing the development and progression of various cancers at a low cost with minimal side effects.
Aspirin is a common painkiller used to treat a variety of aches and pains, such as headaches, toothaches, and period cramps. It is an anti-inflammatory and can also be used to treat cold and flu-like symptoms and bring down high temperatures.
Along with these everyday ailments, aspirin has been shown to prevent blood clots from forming, so it is often prescribed to patients at a high risk of heart disease and strokes. (The resulting blood thinning can put you at risk of other conditions, so it is important to consult your doctor before using aspirin daily.)
Now, aspirin has a new string to its bow: preventing the development and progression of colorectal cancer. Previous research has hinted at this protective effect, but until now the mechanisms involved have been unclear.
In a new study, published in the journal CANCER, researchers in Italy led by the University of Padova have found that aspirin appears to support our immune systems in detecting and targeting these cancer cells, resulting in its observed anti-cancer properties.
"Our study shows a complementary mechanism of cancer prevention or therapy with aspirin besides its classical drug mechanism involving inhibition of inflammation," principal investigator Marco Scarpa, of the University of Padova, said in a statement.
To get to these results, the researchers obtained tissue samples from 238 who had undergone surgery for colorectal cancer between 2015 and 2019; 12 percent of these patients regularly used aspirin.
Compared to patients who did not use aspirin, tissue samples from the aspirin users showed less cancer spread to the lymph nodes (key checkpoints for the immune system around the body) and higher infiltration of immune cells into these tumors, suggesting that the immune system was doing a better job of fighting cancer.
The team then investigated how exposure to aspirin could affect colorectal cancer cells and associated immune cells in a laboratory setting. The exposed immune cells showed higher levels of activation and an enhanced capacity to alert other immune cells to the presence of the growing tumor.
Exactly how much aspirin is required to see these effects is still unclear, and more work needs to be done to investigate how this intervention might work in a clinical setting. However, these results offer exciting insights into the potential role of aspirin in immune enhancement against colorectal cancers, and potentially other cancer types in the future.
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Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
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