New findings suggest that women with specific DNA characteristics in certain areas of the genome may live longer if they take aspirin before they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings point to the need for studies on the potential of aspirin to prevent or treat breast cancer in some individuals.
The authors noted that the findings could help identify individuals who may benefit from aspirin after a breast cancer diagnosis due to their cells’ DNA methylation profile
It is often unclear why some patients benefit from a particular therapy while others do not. In some cases, gene sequences play a role, but in other cases, chemical modifications to DNA may be important. The latter are termed epigenetic changes, and they include a process called DNA methylation.
Tengteng Wang, Ph.D., MSPH, and her mentor Marilie Gammon, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wondered whether DNA methylation may influence the effects of aspirin in patients with breast cancer. The team examined DNA methylation in breast tumor tissues—including at DNA sites that control the expression of 13 breast cancer-related genes—and also in cells circulating in patients’ blood. The study is the first to examine the effect of DNA methylation on the association between aspirin use and mortality in women with breast cancer.
