A number of previous studies have suggested that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease. Emily White, from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Washington, USA), and colleagues surveyed 35,016 postmenopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer on their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral “specialty” supplements and tracked the incidence of breast cancer during a six-year follow-up period. The team found that those women who regularly used fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, had a 32% reduced risk of breast cancer, with the risk reduction limited to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease. Writing that: “Fish oil may be inversely associated with breast cancer risk,” the researchers urge that: “Fish oil is a potential candidate for chemoprevention studies.”
Fish Oil May Slash Breast Cancer Risk
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (US) researchers find that regular use of fish oil supplements slashed breast cancer risk by 32%.
Theodore M. Brasky, Johanna W. Lampe, John D. Potter, Ruth E. Patterson, Emily White. “Specialty Supplements and Breast Cancer Risk in the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Cohort.” Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev July 2010 19:1696-1708; doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0318.
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