Regular use of aspirin by men with prostate cancer reduces the risk of dying from this disease, the latest research by scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (USA) shows.
Their results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Preclinical studies have shown for years that aspirin – and other anticoagulants – can inhibit tumor growth and metastasis, but so far scientists have had little data from clinical trials. This has been changed by the team of dr. Kevin Choe.
The experiment involved nearly six thousand men with prostate cancer (registered in the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor database), treated with both surgical and radiotherapy methods.
2200 of them (i.e. 37%) received anticoagulants: warfarin, clopidogrel, enoxaparin and / or aspirin, the remaining patients did not. They then compared the risk of dying from prostate cancer between the two groups.
The results showed that the 10-year mortality from prostate cancer was significantly lower in the group taking these drugs (3% compared to 8%). The risk of relapse and bone metastases was also greatly reduced. Further analysis showed that the patients taking aspirin benefited the most. Its protective effect was even greater than that of the other three anticoagulants.
According to the authors of the study, the thesis that aspirin – a widely used, easily available and well-tolerated drug – may improve the prognosis in prostate cancer is extremely interesting and promising. The more so as this cancer is – apart from skin cancer – the most common cancer in American men, and the second in the number of deaths caused in the entire US population.
“Our results show that aspirin prevents the growth of prostate cancer cancer cells, especially high-risk cancer, which we have not been able to stop so far,” says Dr. Choe. “Of course, before we start prescribing and routinely administering aspirin to all patients, we need to do further research and find the most optimal dosing regimen.” (PAP)
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