Aspirin has shown potential in a study on mouse models of malignant melanoma to prevent the formation and spread of metastases. This was discovered by researchers from University College London. According to Associate Professor Marián Hajdúch, head of the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Palacký University and University Hospital Olomouc, and medical director of the National Institute for Cancer Research, while the study brings significant insights, it should be approached with caution.
"In my view, it will take some time to understand the extent to which these results can be applied to patient treatment. However, they certainly help us better understand how to further develop this discovery," Hajdúch told CNN Prima NEWS.
Metastases form, simply put, when cancer cells detach from the tumor and migrate alone to distant parts of the body, where they can settle and grow. On their journey, they should be relatively easy targets for the immune system. Unfortunately, malignant tumors can create a microenvironment in the body that deliberately suppresses the immune system’s response.
As discovered by researchers from University College London, who published their findings in Nature, a key player in this process is a substance produced by blood platelets called thromboxane A2, which suppresses the anti-tumor activity of white blood cells known as T-lymphocytes. Aspirin blocks the production of thromboxane, allowing T-lymphocytes to function fully again, recognizing and attacking cancer cells migrating through the body.
“We have long known that cancer patients with a high number of blood platelets have a very poor prognosis. However, until now, we didn’t fully understand why. This study has helped us understand how this mechanism is connected at the molecular level,” Hajdúch told CNN Prima NEWS.
Although aspirin has shown promising results in mice, it is not yet certain that it will work the same way in humans. “It is important to give people hope, but it should not be false hope,” Hajdúch emphasized.
Full article in Czech available here.