Does Aspirin prevent Breast Cancer?

reposted from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2013/04/23/new-cancer-prevention-secret-aspirin/ | FASEB Abstract by Gargi Maity, Archana De Snigdha, Banerjee Amlan Das and Sushanta Banerjee - Kansas City

crabsallover highlights, key points, comments / links.


Forbes
Taking a low dose of aspirin every day could have the potential to prevent breast cancer or stop it in its tracks.

That was the news over the weekend from the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Boston, where a team of researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center presented evidence demonstrating the effects of aspirin against two types of breast cancer.

One of them, so-called “triple negative” cancer, is the most aggressive type of breast cancer and also the most dangerous because it often doesn’t respond to conventional therapies.


FASEB Abstract
Aspirin, a classical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) is widely used to reduce pains and fever. Epidemiological and experimental studies suggested that Aspirin use reduces the risk of different cancers including breast cancer and may be used as a chemopreventive agent against breast cancer and other carcinogenesis. These studies have raised the tempting possibility that Aspirin could serve as a preventive medicine for breast cancer. However lack of in-depth knowledge of the mechanism of action of Aspirin reshapes the debate of risk and benefit of Aspirin in prevention of breast cancer. Our aim is to investigate effects of Aspirin on pathophysiological events like epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, stemness of cell in breast cancer cells. Our studies using in vitro and in vivo tumor xenograft model show a strong beneficial effects of Aspirin in prevention of breast carcinogenesis. We find Aspirin not only prevents breast tumor cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in xenograft mouse model, it also significantly inhibits other pathophysiological events in breast cancer such as EMT, cell migration as well as reprogramming of stemness in breast cancer cells. Collectively our studies suggest that intake of an ASPIRIN a day might offer additional avenues for breast cancer prevention and treatment.

New bowel screening test introduced in England

reposted from: http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2013/03/21/new-bowel-screening-test-introduced-in-england/

crabsallover highlights, key points, comments / links.

Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:33 Share

A new addition to the bowel screening programme is being rolled out

Back in December we wrote about Jeremy Hunt’s announcement that six centres in England would start using Bowel Scope Screening (BSS, also known as flexi-scope or flexible sigmoidoscopy) as part of their bowel screening programme in 2013.

This week, 55 year olds in the South of Tyne region (which includes Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside) received the first wave of letters inviting them to be screened.

This is great news. Cancer Research UK has been involved in Bowel Scope Screening from the beginning – we co-funded a 16 year study  which showed that it cuts deaths by over 40 per cent, and – unlike the current test – can actually prevent a third of bowel cancers among those screened.

As a result, it has the potential to save thousands of lives from bowel cancer each year.

As soon as the trial results were published in 2010, we said we wanted the Government to add BSS to the existing bowel screening programme, and later that year, they agreed, setting aside £60m to fund it.

Since then we’ve been calling for Bowel Scope Screening to start as soon as possible, so it’s fantastic to see it finally happen.

What does the test do?

The test used in Bowel Scope Screening, flexible sigmoidoscopy , uses a flexible tube with a camera and a light on the end to look into your lower bowel. It can spot both early-stage cancers and pre-cancerous growths known as ‘polyps,’ which can be immediately removed to prevent them developing into cancer.

There’s information about having sigmoidoscopy on our website, or you can watch this video.

Recent studies have shown that people find it ‘acceptable’ and ‘reassuring’.

It’s not a new test – it’s been used to diagnose bowel cancer in patients with symptoms for many years. But what is new is using it in this way to screen the population before they even have symptoms. And this could have a huge impact on bowel cancer in this country.

When will it be available?

This is the first of six ‘pilot’ centres which will iron out any potential problems in the system before rolling out BSS to the rest of the country. Over the next few months, another five centres will then start to offer Bowel Scope Screening.

By 2016, everyone in England should be invited to have a test at the age of 55.

What does it mean for me?

Bowel Scope Screening adds to the  existing bowel screening programme, which uses the Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) – which looks for blood in your stools. People are invited from age 60 to participate (or age 50 in Scotland).

Under the new plans, if you live in England, you’ll be invited to be screened using BSS when you turn 55. If you decide not to go (and it is your decision), you can change your mind up until you turn 60. At that point you’ll be invited to take part in the existing bowel screening programme.

Whether or not you decide to have BSS, you will still be invited to take part in the existing screening programme at 60, to help spot any cancer that might develop later on. Although it hasn’t been shown to prevent cancer in the same way as BSS, FOBT is still an important way of helping to diagnose bowel cancer at an early stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful. The evidence so far suggests it’s made a big impact already and BSS takes this a step further.

What’s next?

This is an important first step. Now we need to make sure that everyone can benefit from Bowel Scope Screening. At the moment BSS is only being rolled out in England. We want to see Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland develop their own plans for BSS, including making sure they have the right facilities available.

If this test is made available across the UK, thousands of deaths will be prevented, and – even better – potentially thousands of people will be spared from ever having to experience this terrible disease.

Dan

• Dan Hughes-Morgan is a policy adviser at Cancer Research UK

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