Aspirin boosts immune response against colon cancer, study shows

Aspirin boosts the immune response against colon cancer, according to a study cited by UPI.

Scientists are aware that long-term use of the drug helps prevent this disease, but it was not clear why this is so.

“Our study shows an additional mechanism for the prevention or therapy of cancer with aspirin, besides the commonly used treatment, involving the suppression of inflammation,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Marco Scarpa of the University of Padua, Italy.

For the purposes of their work, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from 238 patients who underwent surgery for colon cancer between 2015 and 2019. Of these, about 12% used aspirin.

The results of the patients who took aspirin showed less spread of cancer in the lymph nodes and greater activity of immune cells against the tumors, notes UPI.

In laboratory tests, exposure of colon cancer cells to aspirin has been shown to enhance the ability of immune cells to warn each other of the presence of tumors.

The immune cells begin to release more of a protein called CD80. Rectal cancer patients using aspirin had higher CD80 activity in healthy tissue, suggesting that aspirin boosts the immune system’s ability to seek out and destroy cancer cells, the researchers said.

The next step for scientists is to find a way for aspirin to penetrate deeper into the gut to boost its anti-cancer effects, Scarpa said.

“Aspirin is absorbed to a large extent in the colon by passive diffusion,” the researcher said. “If we want to take advantage of its effect, we need to think about how to ensure it reaches the intestinal tract in doses to be effective,” he added.

The study and results are published in the journal Cancer.