Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. It takes 148% longer for cancer to progress in people that consume High-DHA in the diet than the people who consume Low-DHA (8.7 months vs. 3.5 months).
Breast cancer is the second biggest cancer killer of American women after lung cancer, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 40,580 women in 2004 (1) and contributing significantly to cancer’s overall cost to society of $219 billion per year (2). A significant proportion of patients die from breast cancer because of the spread of the cancer (called “metastases”). Despite significant advances in technologies, current treatments still rely heavily on conventional chemotherapy. Now a new study (3) has found that DHA, one of the fats found in fish oil, may help improve the outcome of breast cancer chemotherapy. Although this study was a small one, the results are promising enough to lead to further research.
In the study, 25 patients with rapidly progressing breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy were given either 1.8 grams of DHA per day or placebo over the course of their treatment. The researchers measured blood levels of DHA and tracked survival in the patients over an average of 31 months. The researchers then divided the groups into a high-DHA group (blood levels above 2.5% of DHA) and low-DHA group (blood levels below 2.5%).
The researchers found that those in the high-DHA group had a survival time that was nearly 47% longer (34 months vs. 18 months) than those in the lowest DHA group. It also took 148% longer for the cancer to progress in the high-DHA group than the low-DHA group (8.7 months vs. 3.5 months).
For the researchers, “DHA during chemotherapy was devoid of adverse side effects and can improve the outcome of chemotherapy…”
Source: Bougnoux, P., N. Hajjaji, M. N. Ferrasson, B. Giraudeau, C. Couet, and O. Le Floch. “Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial.” British journal of cancer 101, no. 12 (2009): 1978-1985.
© 2009 Cancer Research UK
Posted January 8, 2010.
References:
- 2004/2005 Fact Sheet Cancer Registries: The Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Control” posted on the CDC website.
- “Costs of Cancer” posted on The American Cancer Association website.
- Bougnoux P. Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial. Br J Cancer 101: 1978-1985; advance online publication, November 17, 2009; doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605441.
