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Aspirin could be used against rare cancer
Baltimore, Aug 14: Dutch scientists plan to test aspirin against a rare form of cancer after genetic testing suggested the common painkiller might also kill tumor cells.
Baltimore, Aug 14: Dutch scientists plan to test aspirin against a rare form of cancer after genetic testing suggested the common painkiller might also kill tumor cells.
The finding is the latest in a string of studies to
show that aspirin and other anti-inflammatories may have
cancer-fighting properties.
But researchers who did not participate in the experiments cautioned that aspirin research is in its earliest stages, and many potential anticancer aspects still need to be investigated, including dosage and side effects. Details of the experiments conducted at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam appear in Thursday's issue of nature.
``There's no reason to begin or increase your aspirin consumption based on these studies,'' said Emory University biochemist Keith D.Wilkinson, who reviewed the research for the scientific journal.
The Dutch scientists focused on Cylindromatosis, a genetic abnormality which causes benign tumors to grow in hair follicles and sweat gland cells. Without a normal tumor-suppressing cyld gene, cells lack a biochemical instruction to die when they become old or damaged. Instead, the cells grow wildly and accumulate potentially cancerous changes.
To test aspirin's effect on this process, the researchers cultured human cells and silenced their cyld gene to mimic the disease.
Then, they added a variety of different anti-inflammatory agents to the cultures, including sodium salicyate, a form of aspirin. Bureau Report
But researchers who did not participate in the experiments cautioned that aspirin research is in its earliest stages, and many potential anticancer aspects still need to be investigated, including dosage and side effects. Details of the experiments conducted at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam appear in Thursday's issue of nature.
``There's no reason to begin or increase your aspirin consumption based on these studies,'' said Emory University biochemist Keith D.Wilkinson, who reviewed the research for the scientific journal.
The Dutch scientists focused on Cylindromatosis, a genetic abnormality which causes benign tumors to grow in hair follicles and sweat gland cells. Without a normal tumor-suppressing cyld gene, cells lack a biochemical instruction to die when they become old or damaged. Instead, the cells grow wildly and accumulate potentially cancerous changes.
To test aspirin's effect on this process, the researchers cultured human cells and silenced their cyld gene to mimic the disease.
Then, they added a variety of different anti-inflammatory agents to the cultures, including sodium salicyate, a form of aspirin. Bureau Report