Aspirin¹ has been used as a medication to treat pain, fever and inflammation, but a new study shows that daily doses of aspirin could also help ward² off cancer.

阿司匹林一直以来都是一种被用来抑制疼痛、治疗发烧和炎症的药物，但是最近一项研究表明，每天服用阿司匹林还能预防癌症。

Earlier studies have discovered that aspirin may decrease the risk of certain types of cancer, but scientists remain puzzled for years over how exactly the drug works to prevent the deadly disease, with many attributing it to the drug's inflammation-lowering properties.

之前的一些研究已经发现阿司匹林可以降低患上某些癌症的风险，但是科学家们对于这种药物到底是如何预防癌症困惑了很多年，许多人都认为原因是因为阿司匹林可以消炎。

According to the new study, scientists from Veterans Affairs in Texas suggested that the pain-relief medication's interaction with platelets, the blood cells that form clots⁴ to stop bleeding, could stop tumors from growing.

据这项最新研究表明，德州退伍军人事务部的科学家们表示，这种药物和血小板（血小板可以凝固血液）相互作用，可以防止肿瘤生长。

Normally, platelets can help form new blood vessels⁵ when a clot³ forms after a wound, but the same action can help tumors proliferate⁶ and survive.

通常情况下，受伤血管阻塞之后，血小板可以帮助形成新的血管，但是这一功能也能帮助肿瘤增殖和生存。

The research, published in the February issues of Cancer Prevention Research, found that aspirin disrupts the normal clotting⁷ process by shutting down a key enzyme⁸ called COX-1, thereby⁹ blocking interactions between platelets and cancer cells and curbing¹⁰ the growth of tumors.

这项研究（发表于《癌症预防研究》二月最新刊上）发现，阿司匹林会破坏正常的凝血过程，会使得缺少一种关键的酶COX-1，从而阻断血小板和癌症细胞之间的相互作用、抑制肿瘤生长。

Some experiments used regular aspirins from a local drug store, while the new study used a special mix of aspirin and phosphatidylcholine (PC), a type of lipid or fat molecule¹¹ found in soy lecithin, which is designed to ease the gastrointestinal risk associated with regular aspirins.

之前的一些实验使用的是从当地药店购买的普通阿司匹林，但是这项最新研究使用的是阿司匹林和磷脂酰胆碱的混合物。磷脂酰胆碱是从大豆卵磷脂中发现的一种脂质或脂肪分子，可以用来缓解阿司匹林引起的胃肠道风险。

The study provided evidence that the enhanced aspirin complex, called Aspirin-PC/PL2200, possesses the same or more pronounced actions versus¹² regular aspirins with regard to antiplatelet effects.

该研究表明，相比于普通的阿司匹林，这种增强版的混合物（称之为Aspirin-PC/PL2200）在破坏血小板作用方面效果更佳显著。

"These results suggest that aspirin's chemopreventive effects may be due, in part, to the drug blocking the proneoplastic action of platelets and they support the potential use of Aspirin-PC/PL2200 as an effective and safer chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer and possibly other cancers," said scientists in the study.

负责这项研究的科学家们表示：“这些结果表明，阿司匹林的预防作用可能部分是由于这种药物可以阻断血小板的凝血过程，也说明Aspirin-PC/PL2200有可能可以作为一种有效且更安全的化学药剂来预防大肠癌和其他癌症。”