Fish Oil Improves Prostate Cancer Measures

by | Dec 11, 2013 | 2013, Cancer, Fish Oil Supplements, Men's Health - Prostate, Prostate Cancer

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A 4 week diet of fish oil decreased inflammation and lowered risk of cancer reoccurrence, as evidenced in men that had a malignant prostate removal surgery.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death of men in the US (1), with 241,740 new cases and 28,170 deaths from prostate cancer in 2012 (2) and healthcare costs averaging $42,570 per patient (3).

Research has shown that prostate cancer deaths are much higher in Northern Europe and North America than in Japan and other Asian nations (4). Research suggests a significant reason for this is the Western diet (5); specifically the 15:1 ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids in the Western diet (6) compared to the 4:1 ratio in the Eastern diet (7).

Now a new study (8) suggests that fish oil supplementation improves several measures of prostate cancer in men. In the study, 48 men diagnosed with prostate cancer followed a low-fat diet (20% calories from fat) in addition to 5 grams of fish oil per day or a Western diet (40% calories from fat) (9) with no fish oil supplementation for 30 days after which their prostates were removed. Blood samples and prostate tissue specimens were taken before and after the study.

At the end of 4 weeks, those in the low-fat diet/fish oil supplementation group saw two significant improvements compared to the placebo group:

–     A significantly lower Cell Cycle Progression (CCP) score (-0.75 versus -0.35) compared to the placebo group (p=0.03) . These results are significant as CCP score has been previously shown to be an independent predictor of recurrence after radical prostatectomy and of prostate cancer death (10).

–     A 7.2% decrease in levels of an inflammatory protein called 15(S)-HETE (2800 to 2598 picograms/milliliter) compared to a 24.7% increase in the placebo group (2700 to 3367 pg/mL) (p < 0.02). This decrease is significant as 15(S)-HETE has been shown to be significantly higher in malignant prostate tissue as compared to benign prostate tissue (11).

For the researchers, “A 4-week [low-fat diet with fish oil] dietary intervention decreased serum pro-inflammatory eicosanoids and the prostate cancer tissue CCP score” and that fish oil supplementation can be an option to help improve prostate health.

Source: Galet, Colette, et al. “Effect of a low-fat fish oil diet on proinflammatory eicosanoids and cell-cycle progression score in men undergoing radical prostatectomy.” Cancer prevention research 7.1 (2014): 97-104.

© 2013 American Association for Cancer Research

Posted December 11, 2013. 

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – “Prostate Cancer: The Public Health Perspective (Fact Sheet 2003).”
  2. “Prostate Cancer” from the National Cancer Institute Website.
  3.  “Long-Term Financial Costs Associated With Prostate Cancer Treatment” posted on Medical News Today December 24, 2006.
  4. Jemal A. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin 2011; 61: 69–90.
  5. Weaver KL. Effect of dietary fatty acids on inflammatory gene expression in healthy humans. J Biol Chem 2009; 284:15400–15407
  6. Simopoulos AP (2003) Importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids: evolutionary aspects. World Rev Nutr Diet 2003; 92: 1–22.
  7. Sugano M & Hirahara F (2000) Polyunsaturated fatty acids in the food chain in Japan. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 189S–96S.
  8. Galet C. Effect of a Low-fat Fish Oil Diet on Pro-inflammatory Eicosanoids and Cell Cycle Progression Score in Men Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2013 Oct 29. [Epub ahead of print]
  9. Aronson WJ, Kobayashi N, Barnard RJ, Henning S, Huang M, Jardack PM, et al. Phase II prospective randomizedtrial of a low-fat diet with fish oil supplementation in men undergoing radical prostatectomy. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2011;4:2062-71.
  10. Cuzick J, Berney DM, Fisher G, Mesher D, Moller H, Reid JE, et al. Prognostic value of a cell cycle progression signature for prostate cancer death in a conservatively managed needle biopsy cohort. Br J Cancer. 2012;106:1095-9.
  11. Gupta S, Srivastava M, Ahmad N, Sakamoto K, Bostwick DG, Mukhtar H. Lipoxygenase-5 is overexpressed in prostate adenocarcinoma. Cancer. 2001;91:737-43.