Omega-3 Oils
Slash Prostate Cancer Risk
The omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish
could slash the risk of developing prostate
cancer almost in half. The fish oil also
reversed the deadly effect of a gene known to
increase the risk of developing an aggressive
inherited form of prostate cancer.
Researchers at the University of California
in San Francisco compared the diets of 466 men
diagnosed with prostate cancer and 478 healthy
men. Those who ate “dark” oily fish such as
salmon, herring and mackerel, one to three times
a month had a 36 percent reduced risk of
developing prostate cancer. Those who ate the
fish more than once a week slashed their risk by
57 percent. Scientists found similar results for
eating shellfish, which also contains omega-3
oils.
The omega-3 oils also influenced a variant of
the COX-2 gene, an inherited gene that
encourages inflammation and is linked to a 500
percent increased risk for an aggressive form of
prostate cancer. Eating a diet rich in oily fish
wiped out the negative effects of the gene and
eliminated the increased risk.
“The COX-2 increased risk of disease was
essentially reversed by increasing omega-3 fatty
acid intake by half a gram per day,” said study
leader John Witte, Ph.D. professor of
epidemiology and biostatistics at the University
of California at San Francisco. “If you want to
think of the overall inverse association in
terms of fish, where omega-3 fatty acids are
commonly derived, the strongest effect was seen
from eating dark fish such as salmon one or more
times per week.”
Scientists believe that omega-3 oils reduce
the risk of prostate cancer by combating
inflammation, which influences cancer risk.
Editor's Note: