Omega-3 Kills Cancer Cells, Enhances Chemotherapy
Drug As It Limits Harmful Side Effects
Success with lab rats leads researchers to call for wider use of
omega-3 in the fight against cancer
April 2, 2009 Researchers who found that
docosahexanoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oils,
reduced the size of tumors in lab animals and enhanced the positive
effects of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, while limiting its harmful
side effects, are calling for wider use of omega-3 in the fight against
cancer.
The rat experiments, described in BioMed Central's
open access journal Cell Division, provide some support for the
plethora of health benefits often ascribed to omega-3 acids.
Professor A. M. El-Mowafy led a team of researchers
from Mansoura University, Egypt, who studied DHA's effects on solid
tumors growing in mice, as well as investigating how this fatty acid
interacts with cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug that is known to cause
kidney damage.
El-Mowafy said, "DHA elicited prominent
chemopreventive effects on its own, and appreciably augmented those of
cisplatin as well. Furthermore, this study is the first to reveal that
DHA can obliterate lethal cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and renal
tissue injury."
DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is commonly found
in cold-water fish oil, and some vegetable oils.
It is a major component of brain gray matter and of
the retina in most mammalian species and is considered essential for
normal neurological and cellular developments.
"While DHA has been tentatively linked with
protection against cardiovascular, neurological and neoplastic diseases;
there exists a paucity of research information, in particular regarding
its interactions with existing chemotherapy drugs," the authors wrote
in the magazine report.
The researchers found that, at the molecular level,
DHA acts by reducing leukocytosis (white blood cell accumulation),
systemic inflammation, and oxidative stress all processes that have
been linked with tumor growth.
El-Mowafy and his colleagues have called for
greater deployment of omega-3 in the fight against cancer. They write,
"Our results suggest a new, fruitful drug regimen in the management of
solid tumors based on combining cisplatin, and possibly other
chemotherapeutics, with DHA".
Cell Division is an Open Access, peer-reviewed
online journal that will encompass all aspects of cell cycle control in
eukaryotes. Cell Division is an online forum for and from the cell-cycle
community that aims to publish articles on all exciting aspects of
cell-cycle research and to bridge the gap between models of cell cycle
regulation, development, and cancer biology.
This forum will be driven
by specialized and timely research articles, reviews and commentaries
focused on this fast moving field, providing an invaluable tool for
cell-cycle biologists.
BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/)
is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has
pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research
articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely
accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse.
BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading
global publisher in the STM sector.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April 2, 2009 Researchers who found that
docosahexanoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oils,
reduced the size of tumors in lab animals and enhanced the positive
effects of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, while limiting its harmful
side effects, are calling for wider use of omega-3 in the fight against
cancer.