Scientists Crack How Aspirin Stops Cancer Spreading

Scientists believe they have discovered how the cheap painkiller aspirin can stop cancers spreading.

Studies of people with cancer have previously observed that those taking daily aspirin have a reduction in metastases - the spread - of some cancers, such as breast, bowel, and prostate cancers.

Until now, it wasn’t known how aspirin is able to prevent metastases. But a study by the University of Cambridge, England, suggests that, as cancer starts spreading, there is “a unique therapeutic window of opportunity when cancer cells are particularly vulnerable to immune attack”. Aspirin can help the body launch that immune attack.

Tantalising data from more than a decade ago showed people who were already taking a daily aspirin were more likely to survive if they were diagnosed with cancer. But how?

It appears to centre on a moment of vulnerability for a cancer - when a lone cell breaks off from the original tumour and tries to spread elsewhere in the body. This process is called metastasis and is the cause of the majority of deaths from cancer.

Part of our immune defences - a white blood cell called a T-cell - can jump into action and destroy the spreading cancer as it tries to take root. But the study showed that another part of our blood - the platelets that normally stop bleeding - were suppressing the T-cells and making it harder for them to take out the cancer. That's where aspirin comes in. It disrupts the platelets and removes their influence over the T-cells so they can hunt out the cancer.

Prof Rahul Roychoudhuri, from the University of Cambridge, told the BBC: "What we've discovered is that aspirin might work, surprisingly, by unleashing the power of the immune system to recognize and kill metastasizing cancer cells."

Regular aspirin comes with risks and trials are still trying to figure out which patients are most likely to benefit. More trials are therefore needed.

However, the good news is that the discovery could lead to the targeted use of aspirin to prevent the spread of certain cancers, and to the development of more effective drugs to prevent metastasis.

Note: Aspirin can cause serious side-effects for some people. Consult your doctor before starting to take it.

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