We've been making huge strides in cancer medicine, with scientists discovering novel ways to keep the dreaded disease away or at least delay its spread and progression. But is it possible that, when it comes to breast cancer, the answer is just right in the medicine cabinet?
In a brand-new study recently published in Laboratory Investigation, researchers and scientists revealed that a low-dose of aspiring may actually prevent the risk of breast cancer.
The research worked on by a team from Veteran Affairs Medical Center-Cancer Unit in Kansas, headed by its director Dr. Sushanta Banerjee, the active components of aspiring can prevent breast cancer cells from reproducing.
Cancer cells are different from new ones in the sense that they don't go through a natural death. These abnormal or immature cells instead multiply until they become more invasive, traveling through the bloodstream and into the tissues, where they destroy other healthy cells or develop tumors.
For the study, they cultured almost a hundred cells representing different types of cancer. They then "treated" them with various doses of the popular drug. The breast cancer cells quickly reacted to the medicine, in which the cells had stopped reproducing themselves. The others, meanwhile, died.
They then took their experiment a step further through an animal study. Mice having the breast cancer cells were then given a low-dose concentration of aspirin, which equaled to 75 mg, for the next 2 weeks. The mice's tumors reduced in size by as much as 50% compared to those that didn't receive any.
The decrease in tumor size became even more significant when those who were treated with lose doses receive a larger dose of the drug for less than 2 weeks.
Many doctors are advocating taking a low dose of aspirin on the daily basis. Not only does it prevent headaches and migraines, studies have also shown it helps take care of the heart from hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. It also reduces the risk of other types of cancer such as colon.
