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Unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids in supplements increase by 71 percent. the risk of developing the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer, say US researchers. However, it does not hurt to eat fish, even in large amounts.
A team of scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, led by Dr. Alan Kristal, found that a high concentration of EPA, DHA and DPA – three unsaturated fatty acids with anti-inflammatory properties – increased by 71 percent. the risk of developing the most malignant forms of prostate cancer with a high risk of metastasis. During the research, it was also found that the high concentration of these acids increases by 44%. the risk of prostate cancer with a low risk of metastasis, and by 43 percent. increases the risk of all forms of this cancer.
The conclusions of the research publication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute confirm earlier findings from 2011. According to these studies, a high concentration of DHA in the blood doubles the risk of developing the most dangerous types of prostate cancer, with the highest risk of metastasis. Cancerous tumors in these types of cancer are among the most invasive.
The mutual consistency of these results clearly suggests that these unsaturated fatty acids are involved in the formation of cancerous tumors. The recommendation to increase the proportion of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in the diet, especially by supplementation, must be considered as a potential risk of this type of cancer – the American scientists wrote directly in the publication.
Choose fish instead of supplements
35,5 thousand people participated in the study, which is part of the SELECT program (checking the prophylactic effect of small doses of vitamin E and selenium on reducing the incidence of cancer). men from all over the USA. Prostate cancer has already been diagnosed in 834, 156 of which were the most dangerous. A control group of 1393 men was selected from the healthy ones.
The differences in the concentration of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood between the highest and lowest risk groups are not high, amounting to 2,5%. (in the lowest risk group – 3,2%, in the highest group – 5,7%). This highest level, however, is greater than the effect of eating salmon twice a week, said Dr. Kristal.
As the co-author of the research, prof. Dr. Theodore Brasky, it is important that the experiment has practically duplicated the results of other teams and linked them to previous experience, thus demonstrating that omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids play an important role in the occurrence of prostate cancer, he explained. This does not mean, however, that we have unequivocally concluded that omega-3 worsens the patient’s health prognosis in the case of already diagnosed prostate cancer, he added.
The researchers noted that all of these results are surprising because so far it has been argued that due to their anti-inflammatory properties, omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids should have positive effects in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Inflammation plays an important role in the development of many types of cancer.
It is not clear what specific mechanism links the occurrence of the most malignant forms of prostate cancer with a high concentration of omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids – determining it is now the most urgent goal of further analysis. One reason could be the way omega-3 is broken down; its products can damage cells and the DNA itself, thus causing immunosuppression disorders, i.e. inhibiting the production of antibodies and immune cells.
However, it is almost certain that a diet rich in fish and seafood does not pose a direct threat – this has been proven by studies from Japan, where with this type of nutrition the level of prostate cancer, especially its most dangerous form, is one of the lowest in the world. However, it is likely that omega-3 supplementation may be harmful to men.
You can use cod liver oil, for example, which contains omega-3 fatty acids. Try Moller’s Fruit-flavored Norwegian Tran, Moller’s Apple-flavored Trance, or Moller’s Norwegian GOLD Trance.
Prof. Brasky and Dr. Kristel also found that the publications of teams dealing with other aspects of the action of omega-3 fatty acids showed that the effects of supplementation with them in heart disease have mixed effects.
Six myths about preventing prostate cancer
Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have compiled the article Six Myths About Prostate Cancer Prevention. It is to be printed as a leaflet and distributed by the US Department of Health and Human Services to hospitals and medical facilities.
The first myth debunked in it was that tomato-based preparations such as ketchup and sauces should be consumed in large amounts to prevent prostate cancer. No studies have shown such a link, says Dr. Kristal briefly.
His team was also involved in research on the factors hindering the occurrence of prostate cancer, including lycopene. This organic chemical compound from the carotenoid group is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body against cardiovascular disease and cancer. It is most abundant in tomatoes, giving them a red color.
Studies conducted on a group of 3500 men in the USA, determining the level of lycopene in the blood, do not give unequivocal results in this regard. Previous research studies on reducing the risk of prostate cancer by supplementing with lycopene do not translate into current research on the relationship between blood lycopene levels and the incidence of this cancer. This means that increasing the consumption of lycopene probably does not reduce the risk of prostate cancer, ‘the researchers say. The lycopene in tomatoes alone may help, but only slightly.
The second myth is the well-known and repeated claim even among doctors that high testosterone automatically also means a high risk of prostate cancer, often in the most aggressive form. This is a very pleasant hypothesis for doctors, based on a simple understanding of testosterone metabolism and its effect on prostate cancer. It’s just that it’s not true, notes Dr. Kristel. Scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center say that there is no such simple relationship between the level of testosterone and the incidence of prostate cancer. Published in 2005-2010 materials on 18 large research projects conducted in the US and Europe, which were to confirm this relationship in prostate cancer, showed that there is no direct correlation between testosterone levels and the incidence of prostate cancer in both continents.
Testing the level of PSA – a specific prostatic antigen
Myth three concerns the theory that Dr. Kristal’s team has refuted, saying that the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids reduce the risk of prostate cancer. According to scientists, the opposite is true – the higher the level of omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, the greater the risk of malignant cancer. However, eating fish poses no danger. However, supplementation with capsules containing concentrated omega-3 acids can be dangerous. This is also confirmed by the results of research conducted by European scientists, according to which a high level of DHA polyunsaturated fatty acid increases the risk of an aggressive form of prostate cancer by 2-2,5 times. These are very unpleasant findings, suggesting that our knowledge of how omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids work is very incomplete, notes Dr. Kristal
The fourth myth concerns supplements as a means of preventing prostate cancer. However, large-scale randomized research over the past 5-6 years clearly states that there is no such impact. Conversely, the constant use of certain supplements can significantly increase the risk of certain forms of cancer. Thus, the SELECT project, which attempted to test to what extent supplementation with vitamin E and selenium could produce positive results in the prevention of prostate cancer, did not bring any positive effects. To make matters worse, the latest research on 3500 men from Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United States indicates that continuous vitamin E supplementation increases the risk of prostate cancer.
The fifth myth concerns the usefulness of the well-known PSA (prostate specific antigen) test for detecting the possibility of prostate cancer. Doctors say the PSA levels shown in the study say nothing about which form of cancer needs treatment and which is a benign cancer that does not metastasize.
According to Dr. Ruth Etzioni, bioanalysts at the Hutchinson Center, they are wrong. Increased PSA levels, not correlated with cancer, may significantly occur in men with prostatitis, especially if it is chronic and the prostate has already formed calcifications and adhesions. However, as for cancers, we already know quite precisely which forms of cancer with which PSA readings have a low risk of metastasis and which are at high risk, he adds.
PSA can be associated with the so-called Gleason index, which determines the aggressive form of cancer based on a biopsy of a sample. Thus, the Gleason Index of 2-5 is low risk, 6-7 is medium risk and 8-10 is high risk. Men with relatively low PSA levels and a Gleason index of 6 and lower belong to the group of people with cancer with a generally low risk of metastasis, says Etzioni.
In her opinion, in the case of newly diagnosed patients with prostate cancer, especially in the elderly, only active observation is usually required, not the entire mechanism of anti-cancer therapy at once. The chance that these men will die from untreated prostate cancer and the metastases it causes is about 3%, so it is very low. Interestingly, elderly patients with treated prostate cancer immediately after diagnosis, regardless of its form, have a mortality rate due to this disease at the level of 2%, so not much lower – adds the bioanalyst.
Myth six is that allegedly only one in 50 men who have a PSA test regularly are treated properly and cured. According to the researchers, this is due to the misreading of the largest European study, the European Randomized Study of Prostate Cancer Screening, by internists with no experience with oncological diseases. Conversely, the result of this study meant that for every man whose life was saved by undergoing a PSA screening test, 50 others were immediately overdiagnosed and cured, Dr. Etzioni notes.
Overdiagnosis in medical and scientific language means the diagnosis of a disease that will not cause symptoms or lead to death during the entire life of the patient. A cure, in turn, is the intensive treatment of a disease that will never go so far as to give any symptoms or pose a threat to the patient. The constant rate of overdiagnosed and cured people versus those who have received treatment and are diagnosed with life-threatening prostate cancer is 10: 1 in the long term, Dr Etzioni said.
It is therefore more and more evident that prostate cancer, which according to French studies in Europe is the third most life-threatening type of cancer after lung cancer and breast cancer, requires further research, and the only preventive measure for men is to undergo testing twice a year. PSA and finding a good urologist, preferably with an oncology specialty. Doing so will surely protect you against the worst form of prostate cancer.