Cod Liver Oil Found to Affect Survival in Women with Solid Tumors

by | Aug 7, 2009 | 2009, Cancer, Fish Oil Supplements, Women's Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Women who supplemented with cod liver oil decreased the risk of solid tumors by 23% and decreased the risk of lung cancer by 44%. Daily multivitamin supplementation use decreased lung cancer risk by 30%. Occasional supplement use decreased risk of all tumors by 17%, breast cancer risk by 34%, colorectal cancer by 35%, and lung cancer by 45%. 

Cancer surpassed heart disease as the number one killer of Americans in early 2005 (1), striking  an estimated 1.4 million Americans and killing close to 570,000 in 2006 (2). The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 42% of men and women born today will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetime (2). Cancer costs our healthcare system more than $219 billion each year (3).

When it comes to nutrition and cancer, the American Cancer Society currently recommends a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement containing approximately 100% of the daily value “since it might be difficult to eat a diet with adequate amounts of micronutrients in those times” (4). Now a new study (5) has found that cod liver oil may help with tumor health in women. In the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 2,300 women from the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study (6) to see if supplement use before diagnosis affected survival in cancer patients with solid tumors.  Data was provided via food frequency questionnaires (7).

The researchers found that women who supplemented with cod liver oil every day (dosages of cod liver oil were not given) decreased the risk of solid tumors by 23% and decreased the risk of lung cancer by 44%. When looking at multivitamin supplementation, daily supplement use decreased lung cancer risk by 30% while “occasional” supplement use (taken 1-6 days per week) decreased risk of all tumors by 17%, decreased breast cancer risk by 34%, colorectal cancer by 35%, and lung cancer by 45%. Again, exact amounts in the multivitamin supplements were not measured.

For the researchers, “daily use of cod liver oil and other dietary supplements before diagnosis, alone or in combination, was associated with reduced risk of death among lung cancer patients. Survival was also increased for cancer patients with solid tumors who were whole-year daily users of CLO and for lung cancer patients using other dietary supplements occasionally.”

 Source: Skeie, Guri, et al. “Cod liver oil, other dietary supplements and survival among cancer patients with solid tumours.” International journal of cancer 125.5 (2009): 1155-1160.

© 2009 UICC

Posted August 7, 2009.

References:

  1. “Cancer Tops Heart Disease As Number One Killer In US” posted on the Canada Health Watch website.
  2. “Leading Sites of New Cancer Cases and Deaths  – 2006 Estimates” posted on the National Cancer Institute Website.
  3. “Garlic and Cancer Prevention: Fact Sheet” posted on the National Cancer Institute Website.
  4. “Nutrition and Physical Activity During and After Cancer Treatment: Answers To Common Questions” posted on the American Cancer Society website.
  5. Skeie G.  Cod liver oil, other dietary supplements and survival among cancer patients with solid tumours.  Int Jou Cancer 2009; 125(5): 1155-1160.  DOI: 10.1002/ijc.24422.
  6. Study details posted at the Oxford Journals website.
  7. Parr CL,Veierod MB,Laake P,Lund E,Hjartaker A. Test-retest reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and estimated effects on disease risk in the Norwegian women and cancer study (NOWAC). Nutr J 2006; 5: 4.