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Study Shows Why Aspirin, Fiber Prevent Cancer
Apr 09, 2003

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen may help prevent colon cancer by preventing tumor cells from becoming immortal, and eating fiber may work in a similar way, U.S. scientists reported on Wednesday.

Studies have shown that people who regularly take aspirin and other related drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS have a lower risk of cancer. So do people who eat a high-fiber diet.

But the mechanisms remain unclear.

In one study that may help explain why, Dr. David Frank of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues noted that colon cancer cells have abnormally high levels of an immune system protein called interleukin-6 or IL-6.

Frank's team treated colon cancer cells in the laboratory with NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and sulindac. They also tested butyrate, a compound produced when the body breaks down dietary fiber.

They found that IL-6 in turn activates another protein called STAT1, which shuts down a process called cell suicide. Cells are programmed to self-destruct when they become abnormal, as in cancer, but STAT1 interferes with this process. The cells become immortal, starting the out-of-control proliferation that results in a tumor.

The painkillers stop IL-6 from activating STAT1, Franks' team found. Butyrate also blocks IL-6, but through a different mechanism, they found.

They were scheduled to present their findings to an annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Toronto this week, but the meeting was canceled because of fears about an outbreak of a new virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The next step is to find more direct ways to block the STAT1 protein in patients who have already developed cancer, Frank said.

In a second study that was to be presented at AACR, a team at Ohio State University said they found that women who took the painkillers regularly had a lower risk of breast cancer.

"These results suggest that even women at high risk for breast cancer may be protected by taking NSAIDs," said Dr. Randall Harris, who led the study.

But more research is needed before doctors start telling women to take ibuprofen to prevent breast cancer, Harris said in a statement.

His team looked at data from the National Cancer Institute's Women's Health Initiative, which follows tens of thousands of women, their habits, and their health.

They found that women who took two or more NSAIDs a week for five to nine years reduced their risk of breast cancer by 21 percent. Low-dose aspirin, often recommended to protect against heart disease, had no effect, but regular-dose aspirin did.

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