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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Altering Fatty Acid Intake – More Omega-3, Less
Omega-6 – May Reduce Prostate Cancer Growth
 August 1, 2006 – The problem is that Americans eat
too much omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega-3 fatty acids. UCLA
researchers say swapping this practice is a good idea for older men,
since it may reduce prostate cancer tumor
growth rates and PSA levels. Almost three-fourths of prostate cancers
are discovered in senior citizens.
PSA, or prostate specific antigen, is a
protein marker for prostate cancer and the faster PSA levels increase in
the blood of men after treatment, the greater their potential for dying
of prostate cancer.
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This initial animal-model study is one of the first
to show the impact of diet on lowering an inflammatory response known to
promote prostate cancer tumor progression and could lead to new
treatment approaches. It is published in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal
Clinical Cancer Research.
The omega-6 fatty acids contained in corn,
safflower oils and red meats are the predominant polyunsaturated fatty
acids in the Western diet.
The healthier marine omega-3 fatty acids are
found in cold-water fish like salmon, tuna and sardines.
"Corn oil is the backbone of the American diet. We
consume up to 20 times more omega-6 fatty acids in our diet compared to
omega-3 acids," said principal investigator Dr. William Aronson, a
professor in the department of urology at the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.
"This study strongly suggests that eating a
healthier ratio of these two types of fatty acids may make a difference
in reducing prostate cancer growth, but studies need to be conducted in
humans before any clinical recommendations can be made."
Scientists used a special mouse model for
hormone-sensitive prostate cancer that closely mirrors the disease in
humans. Researchers fed one group of mice a diet comprised of 20 percent
fat with a healthy one-to-one ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
A second group of mice were fed the same diet but
with the fat derived from mostly omega-6 fatty acids.
The study showed that tumor cell growth rates
decreased by 22 percent and PSA levels were 77 percent lower in the
group receiving a healthier balance of fatty acids compared with the
group that received predominantly omega-6 fatty acids.
The most likely mechanism for the tumor reductions,
according to researchers, was due to an increase of the prostate tumor
omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA and a lowering of the omega-6 acid known
as arachidonic acid.
These three fatty acids compete to be converted by
cyclooxgenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2) into prostaglandins, which can
become either pro-inflammatory and increase tumor growth, or
anti-inflammatory and reduce growth.
Researchers found that pro-inflammatory
prostaglandin (PGE-2) levels were 83 percent lower in tumors in the
omega-3 group than in mice on the predominantly omega-6 fatty acid diet,
demonstrating that higher levels of DHA and EPA may lead to development
of more anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.
"This is one of the first studies showing changes
in diet can impact the inflammatory response that may play a role in
prostate cancer tumor growth," Aronson said.
"We may be able to use EPA and DHA supplements
while also reducing omega-6 fatty acids in the diet as a cancer
prevention tool or possibly to reduce progression in men with prostate
cancer."
Currently, the research team is conducting a
clinical trial with men who are undergoing prostate removal due to
cancer to compare the effects of a low-fat diet using omega-3
supplements and a balanced Western diet. Aronson said that positive
findings from this study may lead to larger clinical trials.
In addition, Aronson said that further study might
show that COX-2 inhibitors or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS)
combined with omega-3 supplements also may lower the inflammatory
response in prostate cancer development.
Notes:
The study was funded by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the National Institute of Health Grants: Specialized Programs
of Research Excellence and UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.
Other study authors include: Naoko Kobayashi, R.
James Barnard, Susanne M. Henning, David Elashoff, Srinivasa T. Reddy,
Pinchas Cohen, Pak Leung, Jenny Hong-Gonzalez, Stephen J. Freedland,
Jonathan Said, Dorina Gui, Navindra P. Seerum, Laura M. Popoviciu,
Dilprit Bagga, David Heber, and John A. Glaspy.
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