Can Fish Oil Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer?
A study of 35,016 postmenopausal women with no history of breast cancer has found fish oil supplements may reduce the risk of this disease by 32 percent.
The study looked only at “specialty” supplements taken by each subject, those that did not fall into the category of vitamins or minerals.
The risk of invasive ductal breast cancer – the most common type of the disease – was shown to be reduced in those taking fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. None of the other “specialty” supplements, commonly taken for menopausal symptoms, showed any association to breast cancer. Previous studies of dietary omega-3 oils or fish provided conflicting results. This study’s researchers speculate fish oil supplements may contain much higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids than are normally consumed in even an omega-3-rich diet and this could explain the difference in findings between supplements and diet.
A brief summary was released (12:05am ET, July 8, 2010) by the journal, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; but the full study will not be published until a future issue of the journal.
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