But, he added, “It is premature to recommend aspirin for prevention of lethal prostate cancer, but men with prostate cancer who may already benefit from aspirin’s cardiovascular effects could have one more reason to consider regular aspirin use”.
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Findings from the two studies were released Monday ahead of their presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco later this week.
Pal said that the studies are obviously thought-provoking, but the best move would be formal clinical trials where they would compare the use of aspirin to either no treatment or probably a placebo.
Still, Allard speculated that aspirin’s ability to suppress platelets in the blood – which is why aspirin can cause bleeding as a side effect – might help explain how aspirin could prevent the lethal progression of prostate cancer. “By depleting those platelets, you’re allowing the immune system to recognize the cancer”, said Allard.
However, a number of previous prostate-cancer studies have provided conflicting results on the preventive benefits of aspirin. In the study, the researchers examined 22,071 men who were enrolled in the Physicians’ Health Study, which is ongoing at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. If successful, a bigger trial will look at whether exercise stops the cancer from growing.
Nevertheless, the study does not clearly indicate a direct correlation between regular aspirin use and reduced mortality rate from prostate cancer, but it still suggests that aspirin could be useful in developing treatments for the disease.
“I feel privileged to be on the study and pleased to be part of any research which might be useful to others”. They’re still not sure whether this entirely proves that aspirin can protect against development or worsening of prostate cancer, and they still have to research what dose of aspirin is the most effective.
Multiple studies have suggested that regular aspirin use may reduce the risk of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. During the follow-up period, 3,193 men were diagnosed with PCa, of which 403 were diagnosed with advanced stage of PCa, defined as metastatic ailment or death from PCa.
It is thought exercise interferes with the genes that fuel the cancer’s growth and Dr Bourke says it would be unethical not to try to find out more.
‘We hope studies like this can help develop a clearer understanding of how and why physical activity benefits men with prostate cancer, as well as how best to motivate and support them’.
Researchers found that patients who had circulating cancer cells that were significantly different in terms of appearance did not respond well to hormone therapy and survived for a shorter time. “If we show it works and is feasible, it could be a real leap forward and good news”.
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The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on aspirin and cancer. In addition to the relationship between aspirin use and lethal prostate cancer, study objectives included the incidence of total prostate cancer, high-grade disease (Gleason score 8-10), and advanced cancer (T3b-T4 or N1 or M1).
