by Marie Kauna – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom have identified that aspirin can be used to treat cancer. While cancer does claim the lives of many of its sufferers, this simple but effective test that has been developed can be something to bring hope to cancer patients.
After experiments testing aspirin on mice, scientists have published a study suggesting that aspirin “may prevent tumours from hiding from the immune system.”
According to cancer studies, skin, breast and bowel cancer cells produce high levels of prostaglandin E2, which could reduce the immune response, effectively showing a tumour. However, this study indicates that aspirin can change these chemical pathways in cancer cells.
Professor Caetano Reis e Sousa, one of the researchers, says “what we’re finding is not a revolution, it’s an evolution that could help us try to achieve an even greater rate of remission.”
In addition, Professor Peter Johnson from Cancer Research UK said “this research was carried out on mice, so there is still some way to go.”
He also added that the study results are exciting and “could offer a simple way to dramatically improve the response to treatment in a range of cancers.”
