Tumor-preventing activity of aspirin in multiple cancers based on bioinformatic analyses

BACKGROUND: Acetylsalicylic acid was renamed aspirin in 1899, and it has been widely used for its multiple biological actions. Because of the diversity of the cellular processes and diseases that aspirin reportedly affects and benefits, uncertainty remains regarding its mechanism in different biological systems. METHODS: The Drugbank and STITCH databases were used to find direct protein targets (DPTs) of aspirin. The Mentha database was used to analyze protein–protein interactions (PPIs) to find DPT-associated genes. DAVID was used for the GO and KEGG enrichment analyses. The cBio Cancer Genomics Portal database was used to mine genetic alterations and networks of aspirin-associated genes in cancer. RESULTS: Eighteen direct protein targets (DPT) and 961 DPT-associated genes were identified for aspirin. This enrichment analysis resulted in eight identified KEGG pathways that were associated with cancers. Analysis using the cBio portal indicated that aspirin might have effects on multiple tumor suppressors, such as TP53, PTEN, and RB1 and that TP53 might play a central role in aspirin-associated genes. DISCUSSION: The results not only suggest that aspirin might have anti-tumor actions against multiple cancers but could also provide new directions for further research on aspirin using a bioinformatics analysis approach.