Aspirin prevents metastasis by limiting platelet TXA2 suppression of T cell immunity

Abstract Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from primary tumours to distant organs and is the cause of 90% of cancer deaths globally 1,2 . Metastasizing cancer cells are uniquely vulnerable to immune attack, as they are initially deprived of the immunosuppressive microenvironment found within established tumours 3 . There is interest in therapeutically exploiting this immune vulnerability to prevent recurrence in patients with early cancer at risk of metastasis. 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 A 2 (TXA 2 ). TXA 2 acts on T cells to trigger an…

• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Awards: MR/Y013301/1, MR/W018454/1, MR/S024468/1
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BBS/E/B/000C0407, BB/X006344/1