Study says aspirin may prevent prostate cancer

A claim by British researchers that aspirin could prevent prostate cancer has been described as "an exciting possibility" by a leading Irish doctor.

Prof John Fitzpatrick, professor of surgery at University College Dublin and consultant urologist at the Mater Hospital, said prostate cancer was the most common type of cancer among Irish men.

The latest figures from the National Cancer Registry in Cork show there were 1,133 cases in the State in 1997. Just under half the men who contracted the cancer died that year.

Scientists from Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College School of Medicine and the Prostate Biology Group have found that a protein which causes the disease to spread can be suppressed by aspirin-type drugs.

They discovered that a specific protein, cyclo-oxygenase2 or COX2, which is known to cause cancers to spread, is over-active in prostate cancer cells. The cells they studied produced more than four times the amount of COX2 protein than normal prostate cells.

Regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, is known to inhibit the action of this protein and therefore, possibly, the cancer.

Prof Fitzpatrick said the findings came from an eminent group of researchers but added that more research was needed.

"What they are proposing is that aspirin-type drugs and COX2 inhibitors might prevent prostate cancer, and that may be very well worth looking at.

"The trouble is that the genesis of cancer is a very complicated issue, and several abnormal proteins have been found in prostate cancer cells. So it may not be just a simple matter of taking a pill."

The research, published in the British Journal of Urology, follows studies showing that aspirin can help prevent the spread of other diseases such as bowel cancer. The drug is also used as a preventive treatment for angina and heart attack and is thought to slow the progress of Alzheimer's Disease.

However, the researchers warned men suffering from prostate cancer not to start taking the drug to "cure" the condition.

Speaking on behalf of the Prostate Biology Group, Mr El-Nasir Lalani said: "This research is an interesting first step in a long-term project. Aspirin is not a cure for prostate cancer, and we would discourage any patients from taking the drug for their condition."

He said the findings indicated the need to develop new drugs to specifically inhibit the production of COX2 and to carry out patient trials.

"If this is successful aspirin-like drugs could provide real benefits and new hope to patients with this very common disease."

Meanwhile, a new study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that current US screening strategies in the detection of prostate cancer should be changed.

The research, which appears in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, recommends testing men at the age of 40 and 45 and every two years after the age of 50. Currently, men are tested annually from the age of 50.

The research found that younger men were more likely to have curable disease when compared with older men whose cancers were detected by similar tests.

Currently there is no Government-controlled screening programme in Ireland.