The report, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, says this simple and inexpensive solution has the potential to provide enormous benefit for women in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, who suffer from a disproportionately high rate of cervical cancer death.

“These young patients – many of whom were mothers and the sole support for their families – had worked hard to have their HIV controlled with antiretroviral therapy, only to develop and die from cervical cancer,” said the study’s lead researcher, Dr Daniel Fitzgerald from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, US.

Research finding

The research, which was a collaboration between specialists in the US, Haiti and Qatar,    discovered that HIV caused chronic inflammation in cervical tissue, which in turn is linked to cancer development in a number of tumour types, including cervical cancer.

Professor  Lynette Denny from the University of Cape Town’€™s Department Obstetrics & Gynaecology explained that main reason for the high incidence of HPV-related disease (of which cervical cancer is one) in HIV-positive women is the immune compromised induced by HIV infection which depletes what is known as cell mediated immunity – precisely the type of immunity required to clear HPV infection.

This may help explain why HIV-positive women are five times more likely to develop invasive cervical cancer than HIV-negative women. It also suggests that inhibitors of the COX-2 molecule (which contributes to the production of PGE2 which elevates tumour formation) might break the link between HIV and cervical cancer. Aspirin is one of the cheapest and most effective COX inhibitors.

“Future studies will be needed to determine whether aspirin-like agents, known inhibitors of prostaglandin production, can reduce the risk of cervical cancer in this high-risk population,” said another senior author Dr Andrew Dannenberg, director of the Weill Cornell Cancer Centre at Weill Cornell Medical College.

‘€œThis is an interesting research angle but there is no data to support the use of anti-prostaglandins to prevent cervical cancer – although there is most likely to be a role,’€ said Professor Denny. She added that although the hypotheses have some validity, she will not recommend it to the public until it has been verified in large clinical trials.

Cervical cancer in South Africa

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among South African women, and 1 in every 35 women in the country will be affected by it in her lifetime. The high prevalence of cervical cancer is fuelled by the high burden of HIV/Aids among the South African population.

Sources: EurekAlert!, CANSA.org