Researchers may have uncovered how the long-term daily use of aspirin may help prevent the development and progression of colorectal cancer, according to a recent study published by De Simoni et al in Cancer.
Study Methods and Results
In the recent study, the researchers collected the tissue samples of 238 patients—12% of whom used aspirin—who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer between 2015 and 2019. The patients were then recruited for the METACCRE section of the multicenter observational IMMUNOREACT 7 study.
The researchers found that the tissue samples from patients who used aspirin demonstrated less cancer metastasis to the lymph nodes and higher infiltration of immune cells into tumors compared with the samples from patients who didn’t use the drug. After analyzing colorectal cancer cells in a laboratory environment, the researchers discovered that exposing them to aspirin caused increased expression of the CD80 protein on certain immune cells—which enhanced the capacity of the cells to alert other immune cells of the presence of tumor-associated proteins. They also noted that the patients with rectal cancer who used aspirin had higher levels of CD80 expression in healthy rectal tissue, suggesting a proimmune surveillance effect of aspirin.
Conclusions
“Our study shows a complementary mechanism of cancer prevention or therapy with aspirin besides its classical drug mechanism involving inhibition of inflammation,” underscored senior study author Marco Scarpa, MD, PhD, of the University of Padova. “Aspirin is absorbed in the colon by passive diffusion to a significant degree. Its absorption is linear and depends on concentration along the bowel, and in the rectum, the concentration of orally administered aspirin can be much lower than in the rest of the colon. Thus, if we want to take advantage of its effects against colorectal cancer, we should think of how to guarantee that aspirin reaches the colorectal tract in adequate doses to be effective,” he concluded.
Disclosure: The research in this study was funded by the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
