| I just reread the article and went to look for the publication. > The discovery, published in the journal Nature, happened by accident as the scientists were not researching aspirin. > The team in Cambridge were investigating how the immune system responded to cancers when they spread. > They were using genetically engineered mice and found those lacking a specific set of genetic instructions were less likely to get metastatic cancer that had spread. From the publication :
> Here we show that inhibitors of cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1), including aspirin, enhance immunity to cancer metastasis by releasing T cells from suppression by platelet-derived thromboxane A2 (TXA2). Safe to say my assumption was wrong, they didn't use generally modified mouse because they had no other choice but because they were looking for something else. > This is not something that happens on every human? It's usually much harder in science to understand and prove the 'how' than it is to check the 'if'. To prove a mechanism you got to be able to track it, for instance by using radioactive product, or use such a way that you refute all other casualties. I think in that case, it would have been possible to prove the mechanism by using several different inhibitors of cyclooxygenase, checking if the effect on spreading cancer is still there. If yes, it's a good indication of casualties. |
Sounds promising, honestly, obviously having to weigh in the risks of using medication that inhibits the action of platelets.