Can an Aspirin a Day Keep Cancer at Bay?

Cancer is the biggest cause of premature deaths in the UK. As treatment strategies improve the number of people who are now recovering, or whose cancer is in remission, are increasing. But with estimates suggesting that one in 30 people in the UK has cancer or is in remission and that by 2030 over three million people in the UK will have cancer — methods to prevent or reduce the impact of cancer are high on the medical agenda.

One common drug that seems to be mentioned as a cure for many different illnesses is aspirin. A web search of ‘aspirin and cures’ will find aspirin mentioned as a cure for everything from headache, period pain, arthritis, strokes and cancer. But aspirin is not without its drawbacks. For several of its uses it works by removing clots and thinning the blood; and combined with one of its most serious potential side-effects — intestinal bleeding — aspirin can result in serious medical situations.

Aspirin and cancer

Aspirin’s effect in reducing certain cancers is known about but controversial — the mechanism is not understood and the effectiveness has not been thoroughly researched. But researchers are hoping to change that — in fact the NHS and Cancer Research UK have recently started the world’s largest clinical trial to see if aspirin can prevent cancer from returning. Over 11,000 people who have previously had cancer will be studied — with people having different doses of aspirin or a placebo for five years.

But aspirin still might not be for everyone with the very real risk of internal bleeding in some patients. Researchers need to know more about the mechanism of how aspirin and cancer cells interact — especially before any recommendation could be given to take aspirin as a preventative drug to stop cancer forming or recurring. A study carried out by the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah has taken a step along the path to understanding the interaction.

Aspirin reduces the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate

The study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, used a technique known as metabolite profiling to identify a new pathway regulated by aspirin. They found that aspirin reduced the amount of 2-hydroxyglutarate in the blood of healthy volunteers — a chemical considered a driver in cancer development (oncometabolite).

The study looked at the blood of 40 healthy persons who took aspirin or a placebo over 60 days. Using gas chromatography to profile their plasma samples, the team found a reduction in the concentration of 2-hydroxyglutate in both men and women taking aspirin compared with the placebo group. The use of chromatographic systems to study metabolites is discussed in the Chromatography Today article, Automation Arrives.

In a press release one of the authors states:

This new study suggests that aspirin is playing a key role in interrupting multiple pathways that are linked to cancer development.

Yet another possible use for the old drug aspirin.

Image via Wikimedia Commons