Scientists on ‘Eureka moment' over how aspirin prevents cancer spread
Their new research builds on existing evidence and suggests aspirin supports a boost in the immune system to help catch deadly cancer cells.
Clinical trials in cancer patients are currently continuing into how aspirin could help stop the disease coming back.
However, experts said cancer patients should not routinely take aspirin without speaking to their doctor because of potential side-effects, such as bleeding in the stomach.
The new work was published in the journal Nature and funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.
Led by the University of Cambridge, it suggests a path for aspirin to become a cancer treatment, alongside the development of more effective drugs to prevent cancer spreading.
Researchers screened 810 genes in mice and found 15 that had an effect on cancer spread.
In particular, they found that mice lacking a gene which produces a protein called ARHGEF1 were less likely to have cancer spread to the lungs and liver.
The experts discovered that ARHGEF1 suppresses a type of immune cell called a T cell, which is important for recognising and killing metastatic (spreading to other parts of the body) cancer cells.
They found that ARHGEF1 is switched on when T cells are exposed to a clotting factor called thromboxane A2 (TXA2) – this was an unexpected finding for the scientists.
TXA2 is produced by platelets in the blood and aspirin is already known to cut the production of TXA2.
The research found that aspirin can prevent cancers from spreading by decreasing TXA2 – releasing T cells from being suppressed so they can kill cancer cells.
In mice given aspirin, the frequency of metastases was reduced compared with mice not on the drug, and this was dependent on releasing T cells from suppression by TXA2.
Professor Rahul Roychoudhuri, from the University of Cambridge, who led the study, said: 'Despite advances in cancer treatment, many patients with early stage cancers receive treatments, such as surgical removal of the tumour, which have the potential to be curative, but later relapse due to the eventual growth of micrometastases – cancer cells that have seeded other parts of the body but remain in a latent state.
'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.
'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.'
Dr Jie Yang, also from the University of Cambridge, said: 'It was a Eureka moment when we found TXA2 was the molecular signal that activates this suppressive effect on T cells.
'Before this, we had not been aware of the implication of our findings in understanding the anti-metastatic activity of aspirin.
'It was an entirely unexpected finding which sent us down quite a different path of inquiry than we had anticipated.
'Aspirin, or other drugs that could target this pathway, have the potential to be less expensive than antibody-based therapies, and therefore more accessible globally.'
Researchers are now working with Professor Ruth Langley at University College London, who is leading the Add-Aspirin clinical trial, to find out if aspirin can stop or delay early stage cancers from coming back.
This trial, supported by Cancer Research UK, includes patients with breast, oesophageal, stomach, prostate and bowel cancer.
Professor Langley said of the new work: 'This is an important discovery. It will enable us to interpret the results of ongoing clinical trials and work out who is most likely to benefit from aspirin after a cancer diagnosis.
'In a small proportion of people, aspirin can cause serious side-effects, including bleeding or stomach ulcers.
'Therefore, it is important to understand which people with cancer are likely to benefit, and always talk to your doctor before starting aspirin.'
Alan Melcher, professor of translation immunotherapy at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said the side-effects of aspirin are not trivial – such as stomach bleeding.
He added: 'This new research may help to design better, more targeted drugs, that interfere with the mechanism discovered here to do the good things that aspirin does, without the harmful side-effects.'
Tanya Hollands, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said further work is needed.
She added: 'At the moment, there are no national guidelines for the general population to take aspirin to prevent or treat cancer…
'Cancer Research UK is funding similar research, including the Add-Aspirin trial, the world's largest clinical trial designed to look at aspirin as a way to stop cancer coming back after receiving cancer treatment. We look forward to seeing how research develops in this area.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Breakthrough study finds deficiency of this common nutrient could contribute to Alzheimer's
A deficiency of the metal lithium in the body could be a key factor contributing to the development of dementia in Alzherimer's patients, a groundbreaking new study reveals. The decade-long research, published in the journal Nature, shows for the first time that lithium occurs naturally in the brain and maintains the normal function of all its major cell types, preventing nerves from degradation. Scientists from Harvard Medical School found that lithium loss in the human brain is one of the earliest changes leading to Alzheimer's, while in mice, a similar lithium depletion accelerated memory decline. A reduced lithium level was found in some cases due to the metal's impaired uptake and its binding to amyloid plaques, which are known to be smoking gun signs of Alzheimer's. Researchers also showed that a new type of lithium compound – lithium orotate – can avoid capture by amyloid plaques and restore memory in mice. In the study, scientists used an advanced type of mass spectroscopy chemical analysis method to measure trace levels of about 30 different metals in the brain and blood samples from a range of people, including cognitively healthy people, those in an early stage of dementia, and those with advanced Alzheimer's. The analysis revealed that lithium was the only metal with markedly different levels across groups, which also seemed to change at the earliest stages of memory loss. 'Lithium turns out to be like other nutrients we get from the environment, such as iron and vitamin C,' study senior author Bruce Yankner said. 'It's the first time anyone's shown that lithium exists at a natural level that's biologically meaningful without giving it as a drug,' Dr Yankner said. Although lithium compounds have been historically in use to treat a range of mental conditions like bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, in these cases, they are given at much higher concentrations that could even be toxic to older people. Scientists have now found that lithium orotate is effective at one-thousandth this dose – enough to mimic the natural level of lithium in the brain. The latest findings with lithium orotate, however, needs to be confirmed in humans via clinical trials. Yet, researchers suspect that measuring lithium levels could help screen people for early Alzheimer's. The findings revise the theory of Alzheimer's disease, which affects nearly 400 million people worldwide, offering a new strategy for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Decades of studies have shown that Alzheimer's disease involves an array of brain abnormalities, including clumps of the protein amyloid beta, tangles of the protein tau, and a loss of the brain's protective protein REST. However, these abnormalities have never fully explained the condition. For instance, it remains unclear why some people with Alzheimer's-like changes in the brain never go on to develop dementia or cognitive decline. Recent treatments developed to target amyloid beta plaques also don't seem to reverse memory loss, only modestly reducing the rate of cognitive decline. Now, scientists say lithium could be the critical missing link. 'The idea that lithium deficiency could be a cause of Alzheimer's disease is new and suggests a different therapeutic approach,' Dr Yankner said. 'You have to be careful about extrapolating from mouse models, and you never know until you try it in a controlled human clinical trial... But so far the results are very encouraging,' he added. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Breakthrough study finds deficiency of this common nutrient could contribute to Alzheimer's
A deficiency of the metal lithium in the body could be a key factor contributing to the development of dementia in Alzherimer's patients, a groundbreaking new study reveals. The decade-long research, published in the journal Nature, shows for the first time that lithium occurs naturally in the brain and maintains the normal function of all its major cell types, preventing nerves from degradation. Scientists from Harvard Medical School found that lithium loss in the human brain is one of the earliest changes leading to Alzheimer's, while in mice, a similar lithium depletion accelerated memory decline. A reduced lithium level was found in some cases due to the metal's impaired uptake and its binding to amyloid plaques, which are known to be smoking gun signs of Alzheimer's. Researchers also showed that a new type of lithium compound – lithium orotate – can avoid capture by amyloid plaques and restore memory in mice. In the study, scientists used an advanced type of mass spectroscopy chemical analysis method to measure trace levels of about 30 different metals in the brain and blood samples from a range of people, including cognitively healthy people, those in an early stage of dementia, and those with advanced Alzheimer's. The analysis revealed that lithium was the only metal with markedly different levels across groups, which also seemed to change at the earliest stages of memory loss. 'Lithium turns out to be like other nutrients we get from the environment, such as iron and vitamin C,' study senior author Bruce Yankner said. 'It's the first time anyone's shown that lithium exists at a natural level that's biologically meaningful without giving it as a drug,' Dr Yankner said. Although lithium compounds have been historically in use to treat a range of mental conditions like bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, in these cases, they are given at much higher concentrations that could even be toxic to older people. Scientists have now found that lithium orotate is effective at one-thousandth this dose – enough to mimic the natural level of lithium in the brain. The latest findings with lithium orotate, however, needs to be confirmed in humans via clinical trials. Yet, researchers suspect that measuring lithium levels could help screen people for early Alzheimer's. The findings revise the theory of Alzheimer's disease, which affects nearly 400 million people worldwide, offering a new strategy for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Decades of studies have shown that Alzheimer's disease involves an array of brain abnormalities, including clumps of the protein amyloid beta, tangles of the protein tau, and a loss of the brain's protective protein REST. However, these abnormalities have never fully explained the condition. For instance, it remains unclear why some people with Alzheimer's-like changes in the brain never go on to develop dementia or cognitive decline. Recent treatments developed to target amyloid beta plaques also don't seem to reverse memory loss, only modestly reducing the rate of cognitive decline. Now, scientists say lithium could be the critical missing link. 'The idea that lithium deficiency could be a cause of Alzheimer's disease is new and suggests a different therapeutic approach,' Dr Yankner said. 'You have to be careful about extrapolating from mouse models, and you never know until you try it in a controlled human clinical trial... But so far the results are very encouraging,' he added.
a day ago
Italy's Ventina glacier has melted so much geologists now can only monitor it remotely
ROME -- Italy's Ventina glacier, one of the biggest in northern Lombardy, has melted so much due to climate change that geologists can no longer measure it the way they have for the past 130 years. After this year's hot summer, geologists discovered that the simple stakes used as benchmarks to measure the glacier's retraction each year are now buried under rockslides and debris that have made the terrain too unsteady for future in-person visits. The Lombardy Glaciological Service said Monday that it will now use drone imagery and remote sensing to keep track of the ongoing shrinkage. Geologists say that the Ventina glacier has already lost 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) in length since the first measuring benchmarks were positioned at the front of the glacier in 1895. The melting has accelerated in recent years, with the glacier losing 431 meters (471 yards) in the last 10 years, nearly half of that since 2021, the service said. It's another example of how accelerating global warming is melting and shrinking Europe's glaciers, causing a host of environmental and other impacts. 'While we could still hope until the 1980s that there would be normal cycles (of retraction) or at least a contained retraction, in the last 40 years something truly striking has occurred,' said Andrea Toffaletti, a member of the Lombardy Glaciological Service. Italy's mountain glaciers, which are found throughout the Alps and Dolomites in the north and along the central Apennines, have been receding for years, thanks to inadequate snowfall in the winter and record-setting hot summers. Glaciers always melt some in summer, with the runoff fueling mountain streams and rivers. But the hot summers are 'no longer able to guarantee the survival of the winter snowpack,' that keeps the glacier intact, Toffaletti said. 'In order to regenerate and remain in balance, a certain amount of residual snow from the winter must remain on the glacier's surface at the end of the summer. And this is happening less and less frequently,' said Toffaletti. According to the Lombardy service, the Alps represent a climate hotspot, recording double the global average of temperature increases since pre-industrial times, resulting in the loss of over 64% of the volume of Alpine glaciers. In February, the journal Nature reported on a study showing the world's glaciers lost ice at the rate of about 255 billion tons (231 billion metric tons) annually from 2000 to 2011, but that quickened to about 346 billion tons (314 billion metric tons) annually over about the next decade.
