Studies abound that point to a role for plain old aspirin in keeping deadly cancers at bay. While aspirin is not yet part of mainstream treatment for any cancer, it is recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for certain adults to help prevent colorectal cancer.

But researchers have puzzled over how exactly the “wonder drug” works to ward off cancer. Most think it has to do with the drug’s inflammation-lowering effects.

Now Veterans Affairs (VA) scientists and colleagues in Texas have a new theory, tested successfully in mice and cell cultures. It has to do with aspirin’s effects on platelets–blood cells that form clots to stop bleeding.

The findings appear in the February 2017 issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

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Along with clotting, platelets also play a role in forming new blood vessels. That action is normally beneficial, such as when a new clot forms after a wound, and new vessels are needed to redirect blood flow. But the same action can help tumors grow. It’s this process that aspirin can interrupt, say the researchers. Their lab tests showed how aspirin blocked the interaction between platelets and cancer cells by shutting down the enzyme COX-1, thereby curbing the number of circulating platelets and their level of activity.

Some of the experiments used regular aspirin from a local drug store. In another phase, the researchers used a special preparation of aspirin combined with phosphatidylcholine, a type of lipid, or fat molecule. The molecule is a main ingredient in soy lecithin. The product, known as Aspirin-PC/PL2200, now in development by Houston-based PLx Pharma, Inc., is designed to ease the gastrointestinal risk associated with standard aspirin.

Click here to read the full study.

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