Lower risk of cancer through aspirin research

Mechanism for reducing the risk of cancer by aspirin decrypted

07/02/2014

Researchers at the University of Bern believe that they have decoded the mechanism that causes aspirin to reduce cancer risk. The fact that regular intake of acetylsalicylic acid can reduce the risk of developing tumors has been known for years and has been confirmed by studies. How the drug reduces the cancer risk, however, could not be clarified until today. Swiss researchers now believe they have discovered that aspirin rejuvenates the markers in the genome, telling the cell what function, such as a skin or muscle cell, it should take over. However, the scientists strongly advise against an uncontrolled use of the product.

The cause of the cancer risk-reducing effects of aspirin could have been decrypted
Since the 1990s, aspirin has been known to reduce cancer risk when taken regularly. However, the exact mechanism of action of the agent was never completely elucidated. Researcher led by the molecular geneticist Prof. Primo Schär from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and the gastrointestinal specialist PD Dr. med. Kaspar Truninger could now have decrypted a possible mechanism, as in the trade magazine „Journal of the National Cancer Institute "report.

In their study, the researchers examined samples of the intestinal tissue of 546 healthy over 50-year-old women. The subjects also had to comment on their lifestyle with regard to the use of aspirin, the body mass index (BMI), the consumption of nicotine and the use of hormone replacement therapies. The researchers then compared this information with the age-specific changes in the genetic markers, the so-called methyl groups of DNA.

Do not take aspirin regularly without medical advice to reduce the risk of cancer
„The genome in each cell is similar to a bookmarked library“, explains Schär. With the help of these bookmarks, the cell can differentiate between genes that should be read and those that are less important to them. In this way she would know which specialized task she was to perform as a skin, muscle or intestinal wall cell. „These marks are not stable, but change with age. If they change too much in certain parts of the genome, a tumor can develop“, so Schär.

In their study, the researchers showed that taking aspirin on a regular basis slows down these age-related changes in genetic markers. Another result: smoking has the opposite effect, by actually accelerating the aging process. „Genes that play a role in the development of cancer are also particularly affected“, says Dr. Faiza Noreen, researcher at the Department of Biomedicine and first author of the study.

Although the researchers have provided further evidence for the potential cancer risk-lowering effect of aspirin in their study, they advise against uncontrolled use of the drug. Those who regularly take acetylsalicylic acid may provoke an increased risk of mucous membrane irritation, gastrointestinal bleeding and gastric ulcers. In chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, the remedy may even be shock-inducing. (Ag)