Drug link may help fight cancer

Australian scientists say they have made a genetic breakthrough which could help in the fight against cancer.

The Melbourne-based team says it has pinpointed a link between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, and the ability of tumours to spread in the body.

The scientists from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre say doctors have been aware of the benefits of NSAIDs for many years, but did not fully understand the biological processes involved.

“We’ve known that tumours actively secrete a range of proteins and compounds, called growth factors, to attract blood and lymphatic vessels from within their immediate vicinity, enabling them to flourish and metastasise, or spread,” said senior author Associate Professor Steven Stacker.

“In this research we have discovered that a gene (PGDH) links these growth factors to the prostaglandin cellular pathway, the pathway that can cause inflammation and dilation of vessels throughout the body.

“Basically, the growth factors released by tumours also encourage nearby collecting lymphatic vessels to widen, increasing the capacity for these ‘supply lines’ to act as more effective conduits of cancer spread.”

Now that scientists understand how the vessels are encouraged to widen, the team believes the positive effects of NSAIDs are now clearer.

“The discovery of this link unlocks a range of potentially powerful new therapies to target this pathway in lymphatic vessels, effectively tightening a tumour’s supply lines and restricting the transport of cancer cells to the rest of the body,” Dr Tara Larnezis said.

“The potential is incredibly exciting, as these new and improved drugs could help contain many solid epithelial tumours, including breast and prostate cancer, which affect large numbers of Australian men and women.”

The researchers are hopeful their discovery will lead to an early warning system for tumours before they become unmanageable.

The results of the study have been published in an international journal, Cancer Cell.