Aspirin Shown to Inhibit Ovarian Cancer Growth

The study was published in the October 2002 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The researchers found that the higher the dosage of aspirin added to the culture, the more growth inhibition was observed. Combining aspirin with a monoclonal antibody specific for the HER-2/neu protein decreased the growth of tumor cells even more, suppressing growth by 84%. Expression of HER-2/neu is elevated in a third of ovarian cancers.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida (Tampa, USA; www.usf.edu), working in the laboratory of Jeanne Becker, Ph.D., senior author of the study and associate professor in the department of obsteterics and gynecology. Last year, Dr. Becker's laboratory demonstrated that aspirin inhibits the growth of endometrial cancer by promoting programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Continuing studies are seeking to determine more about the way aspirin inhibits tumor cell growth. Dr. Becker cautions that much more research must be done before women are urged to begin taking aspirin to avert ovarian cancer.




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