title: Prevention and treatment of cancer with aspirin: where do we stand?
abstract: Aspirin is arguably the synthesized drug that has been used most commonly in human history. Aspirin was originally developed and marketed for the treatment of inflammatory disorders at the end of the 19th century, but its mechanism of action remained unknown until the second half of the 20th century. Since the latter part of the 20th century aspirin also has been used for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases given its anti-thrombotic properties. An association between intake of aspirin and decreased cancer risk was identified in the past decades. Whether aspirin can be used as an anticancer agent in patients with a diagnosis of cancer was unknown until recently. Recent studies suggest that aspirin might provide therapeutic benefit in the adjuvant treatment of certain forms of cancer. This review provides a critical update on this topic, which has potential implications for oncologists and their patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest University, Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC. Electronic address: bpasche@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pasche
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest University, Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest University, Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pennison
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest University, Medical Center Blvd, Winston Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jimenez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin