In mice that were engineered with a genetic defect that caused prostate cancer, a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids beginning at birth reduced tumor growth, slowed disease progression and increased survival. The research is reported online today by the Journal of Clinical Investigation and will appear in the July 2 print issue.
Mice with the tumor suppressor gene remained free of tumors and had 100 percent survival, regardless of diet. In mice with the gene defect, survival was 60 percent in animals on the high omega-3 diet, 10 percent in those on the low omega-3 diet and 0 percent in those on the high omega-6 diet.
He noted that the mice got lifetime exposure of omega-3 and that some people may not be willing to change their diets until they develop cancer. He hopes to study whether there would be beneficial effects of adding omega-3 PUFA to the diet after tumors have developed
*The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health