Chalk up another win for aspirin. Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare form of cancer, but it is especially relevant to me as it is taking my father's life. While these studies are specific to cholangiocarcinoma, these benefits of aspirin can probably be applied to all forms of cancer.
Association Between Aspirin Use and Biliary Tract Cancer Survival
We observed a reduced risk of death for postdiagnosis aspirin users across all BTC types. Platelet activation protects tumor cells from elimination, enhances metastatic cell growth, and enables cancerous cells to spread via the bloodstream.4,6 Aspirin may slow the metastatic spread of cancer cells through inhibition of platelet aggregation, improving BTC survival.1 A limitation of our analysis is the lack of data on cancer stage and chemotherapy regimens received (if any). However, most BTCs are diagnosed at late stage2 with less than 10% of patients presenting with resectable tumors and 50% of tumors metastasizing to the lymph nodes.1 The survival benefit of aspirin observed in our study is on par with the current standard of care.2
Aspirin inhibits cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation via cell cycle arrest in vitro and in vivo
Aspirin inhibits tumor proliferation in vivo
Based on the results obtained from in vitro studies, the effect of aspirin in an in vivo model of CCA was assessed. Nude mice were injected subcutaneously with HuCCT-1 cells followed by intraperitoneal injection of aspirin. The present results revealed that tumor growth was significantly inhibited in mice treated with aspirin compared to untreated mice (P<0.05) (Fig. 8A). No mice succumbed during the observation period. Expression levels of miR-340-5p in tumor tissue were not significantly different, although the RQ was slightly increased in the two aspirin-treated groups (Fig. 8B). H&E-stained images of the xenografted tumor tissues revealed no significant histo-pathological differences between the aspirin-treated and control mice. Immunohistochemical staining of cyclin D1 indicated that cyclin D1-positive cells in the aspirin-treated groups were reduced in number compared with the control group (Fig. 8C).