more evidence re: cancer and omega 3

[Guest guest]

Interesting abstract on importance of omega 3 - 6 balance:

Int J Cancer 2002 Mar 1;98(1):78-83 Books, LinkOut

 

N-3 and N-6 fatty acids in breast adipose tissue and relative risk of breast

cancer in a case-control study in Tours, France.

 

Maillard V, Bougnoux P, Ferrari P, Jourdan ML, Pinault M, Lavillonniere F,

Body G, Le Floch O, Chajes V.

 

Laboratoire de Biologie des Tumeurs, Clinique d'Oncologie-Radiotherapie,

Service de Gynecologie-Obstetrique, E.A. 2103, Unite de Recherche Associee

Universite-INRA, CHU, Tours, France.

 

Experimental studies have indicated that n-3 fatty acids, including

alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3) and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty

acids inhibit mammary tumor growth and metastasis. Earlier epidemiological

studies have given inconclusive results about a potential protective effect

of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on breast cancer risk, possibly

because of methodological issues inherent to nutritional epidemiology. To

evaluate the hypothesis that n-3 fatty acids protect against breast cancer,

we examined the fatty acid composition in adipose tissue from 241 patients

with invasive, nonmetastatic breast carcinoma and from 88 patients with

benign breast disease, in a case-control study in Tours, central France.

Fatty acid composition in breast adipose tissue was used as a qualitative

biomarker of past dietary intake of fatty acids. Biopsies of adipose tissue

were obtained at the time of surgery. Individual fatty acids were measured as

a percentage of total fatty acids, using capillary gas chromatography.

Unconditional logistic regression modeling was used to obtain odds ratio

estimates while adjusting for age, height, menopausal status and body mass

index. We found inverse associations between breast cancer-risk and n-3 fatty

acid levels in breast adipose tissue. Women in the highest tertile of

alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3) had an odds ratio of 0.39 (95% confidence

intervals [CI] = 0.19-0.78) compared to women in the lowest tertile (trend p

= 0.01). In a similar way, women in the highest tertile of docosahexaenoic

acid (22:6 n-3) had an odds ratio of 0.31 (95% CI = 0.13-0.75) compared to

women in the lowest tertile (trend p = 0.016). Women in the highest tertile

of the long-chain n-3/total n-6 ratio had an odds ratio of 0.33 (95%

confidence interval = 0.17-0.66) compared to women in the lowest tertile

(trend p = 0.0002). In conclusion, our data based on fatty acids levels in

breast adipose tissue suggest a protective effect of n-3 fatty acids on

breast cancer risk and support the hypothesis that the balance between n-3

and n-6 fatty acids plays a role in breast cancer. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss,

Inc.