NSAIDs attenuate tumor invasion

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-03/sfeb-npi032608.php

Public release date: 26-Mar-2008
Dr. Wen-Chung Hung Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis. The research, to be published in the April 2008 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides new insights for the understanding of the anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs.
...
we elucidated the underlying mechanism and demonstrated that up-regulation of SPARC in human lung cancer cells was mediated via inhibition of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) expression and promoter de-methylation. This is the first report to show that NSAIDs may inhibit the expression of DNMTs to reverse promoter methylation and to reactivate gene transcription.”

Methylation of genes because of lack of nutrition appears to play a role in the decreased cognitive ability caused by inadequate nutrition during the pre-natal and early childhood period, which may last several generations. Perhaps this research on reversing the methylation will lead to treatment in this area.