LMU researchers have identified a signaling pathway by which aspirin can inhibit colorectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer (bowel cancer) is the third most common form of cancer worldwide, with around 1.9 million newly diagnosed cases and 900,000 deaths every year. Therefore, preventive substances represent an urgent clinical need. Aspirin/acetylsalicylic acid has proven to be one of the most promising candidates for the prevention of colorectal cancer. Among other findings, studies have shown that when patients with cardiovascular diseases took low doses of aspirin over several years, it reduced their risk of colorectal cancer. Furthermore, aspirin can inhibit the progression of colorectal cancer. Now a team led by Heiko Hermeking, Professor of Experimental and Molecular Pathology at LMU, has investigated which molecular mechanisms mediate these effects.
As the researchers report in the journal Cell Death and Disease, aspirin induces the production of two tumor-suppressive microRNA molecules (miRNAs) called miR-34a and miR-34b/c. To do this, aspirin binds to and activates the enzyme AMPK, which in turn alters the transcription factor NRF2 such that it migrates into the cell nucleus and activates the expression of the miR-34 genes. For this activation to succeed, aspirin additionally suppresses the oncogene product c-MYC, which otherwise inhibits NRF2.
