An innovative new study is trialing whether giving aspirin, commonly used as pain relief, alongside immunotherapy drug avelumab could improve its effectiveness for people affected by breast cancer, Report informs referring to News Medical website.
Used in combination, aspirin, and avelumab could potentially stop people dying from this disease.
The clinical trial is being funded by the Breast Cancer Now Catalyst Programme, which aims to accelerate progress in world-class breast cancer research through innovation and collaboration. As part of the Programme, Pfizer has provided Breast Cancer Now with funding through an independent medical research grant and given the charity’s researchers access to several Pfizer medicines.
If successful, the trial could pave the way to urgently needed new treatment options for the 8,000 women diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in the UK each year – a less common but often more aggressive type of breast cancer that disproportionately affects younger women and black women.
Triple-negative breast cancer refers to a diverse group of breast cancers that lack the three molecules used to classify the disease: the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). While these molecules have successfully been used to develop a variety of targeted treatments for other types of breast cancer, their absence in triple-negative breast cancer means that treatment options for this type are usually limited to a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy and can come with grueling side effects.
The Catalyst Programme is accelerating progress in breast cancer research through 28 innovative breast cancer research projects, including clinical trials, taking place across the UK and Europe. All of these projects aim to bring better treatment options for people affected by breast cancer.