Research & medical

What is the problem and who is affected?

Every year, more than 2000 New Zealand women are diagnosed with oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. The majority of these women are treated with therapies that interact, in some way, with the oestrogen hormone. Despite this hormone therapy, cancer sometimes does recur and the risk of death from cancer returns.

What is this research hoping to achieve?

Dr Dunbier and her team will trial a short treatment of the common anti-inflammatory drug aspiring together with standard anti-oestrogen therapy for ER+ breast cancer, to determine whether administering these two drugs together decreases the number of immune cells entering the tumour and the rate at which the tumour grows.

This analysis will suggest whether aspirin could have a long-term application as an anti-cancer therapy.

Funding provided through a tripartite partnership between the Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand (BCFNZ), the Health Research Council (HRT) and the the Breast Cancer Research Trust (BCRT).