L'Regular use of acetylsalicylic acid in low doses can combat colorectal cancer. The evidence of this preventive effect of the so-called aspirin, taken to limit the risks of cardiovascular diseases, is increasing. A a group of researchers coordinated by the University of Padua has discovered, in fact, a mechanism of action with which acetylsalicylic acid seems to activate an immune response against tumors of the colorectal.
I study
The multicenter study “Immunoreact 7” involves 14 Italian research groups, coordinated by Marco Scarpa, of the Department of Surgical, Oncological and Gastroenterological Sciences of the University of Padua Hospital. Supported by the Airc Foundation for cancer research, it aims to evaluate the effect of acetylsalicylic acid on the tumor microenvironment, on systemic immunity and on the healthy mucosa surrounding colorectal cancer.
“In the first part of the work we retrospectively analyzed samples and data from patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer operated between 2015 and 2019 in the University Hospital of Padua – explains Scarpa – We therefore studied, again in samples obtained from patients , mRNA expression of genes associated with immune surveillance in primary colorectal cancer cells from patients taking acetylsalicylic acid. Furthermore, we replicated these measurements experimentally, with laboratory animals, at the University of Padua and at the University of Padua. Veneto Oncology Institute. Finally, we further studied the immune microenvironment of the healthy mucosa surrounding colorectal cancer in samples obtained from a large subgroup of patients who participated in the multicenter Immunoreact project in relation to the chronic intake of acetylsalicylic acid”.
Compared with tissue samples from patients not taking the drug, those obtained from patients taking it showed less spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes and greater infiltration of immune cells into the tumor. In analyzes of colorectal cancer cells in the laboratory, exposure of these cells to acetylsalicylic acid caused an increase in the protein Cd80, a modulator of immune function. This increase – the researchers highlight – appears to have improved the cells' ability to alert other defense cells to the presence of proteins associated with the tumor. To support this finding, the team showed that in patients with colorectal cancer, those taking acetylsalicylic acid had higher Cd80 protein levels in healthy rectal tissue. This suggests that the drug induces an immune surveillance effect.
“Our data – adds Scarpa – show that treatment with acetylsalicylic acid can increase the expression of Cd80, improving the ability of colorectal cancer cells to actively present their tumor antigens to T lymphocytes. The latter are the cells of our defenses responsible, among other things, for eliminating cancer cells, once their specific antigens have been recognised. It should also be added that, in patients with rectal cancer, both the concentration of Cd80 protein in the epithelial cells and the ratio. between cytotoxic lymphocytes and total T lymphocytes were higher among those taking acetylsalicylic acid. This suggests that acetylsalicylic acid taken long-term exerts an immune surveillance effect already on the normal mucosa and not only within the tumor”, he concludes.
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