Aspirin May Help Prevent Cancer Spread by Boosting Immune Response, Study Finds
UK: Researchers from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, have found that aspirin, an inexpensive and widely accessible painkiller, may help prevent certain cancers from spreading by influencing the body's immune response.
Published in Nature, the study conducted in mice revealed that aspirin affects platelets—tiny blood cells responsible for clotting—by reducing the production of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), a clotting factor that suppresses immune T cells. With lower TXA2 levels, T cells regain their ability to target and destroy cancer cells attempting to spread, suggesting a potential role for aspirin in cancer prevention.
"The findings uncover a new way in which the immune system is suppressed, limiting T cells from fighting cancer spread. This helps explain how aspirin may prevent metastasis and could lead to better immunotherapy treatments for stopping cancer from spreading," the researchers wrote.
Metastasis occurs when cancer cells spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body and is responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths worldwide. As these spreading cells leave the protective environment of the primary tumor, they become more exposed to immune attack. Researchers are exploring ways to use this immune weakness to prevent cancer from returning in patients with early-stage cancer at risk of metastasis.
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