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GI cancer
Original article
Marine ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis
  1. Mingyang Song1,2,3,
  2. Xuehong Zhang4,
  3. Jeffrey A Meyerhardt5,
  4. Edward L Giovannucci3,4,6,
  5. Shuji Ogino5,6,7,
  6. Charles S Fuchs4,5,
  7. Andrew T Chan1,2,4,8
  1. 1 Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  2. 2 Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  3. 3 Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  4. 4 Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  5. 5 Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  6. 6 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  7. 7 Division of MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  8. 8 Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Andrew T Chan, Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, GRJ-825C, Boston MA 02114, USA; achan{at}partners.org

Abstract

Objective Experimental evidence supports an antineoplastic activity of marine ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs; including eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and docosapentaenoic acid). However, the influence of ω-3 PUFAs on colorectal cancer (CRC) survival is unknown.

Design Within the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, we prospectively studied CRC-specific and overall mortality in a cohort of 1659 patients with CRC according to intake of marine ω-3 PUFAs and its change after diagnosis.

Results Higher intake of marine ω-3 PUFAs after CRC diagnosis was associated with lower risk of CRC-specific mortality (p for trend=0.03). Compared with patients who consumed <0.10 g/day of marine ω-3 PUFAs, those consuming at least 0.30 g/day had an adjusted HR for CRC-specific mortality of 0.59 (95% CI 0.35 to 1.01). Patients who increased their marine ω-3 PUFA intake by at least 0.15 g/day after diagnosis had an HR of 0.30 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.64, p for trend <0.001) for CRC deaths, compared with those who did not change or changed their intake by <0.02 g/day. No association was found between postdiagnostic marine ω-3 PUFA intake and all-cause mortality (p for trend=0.47).

Conclusions High marine ω-3 PUFA intake after CRC diagnosis is associated with lower risk of CRC-specific mortality. Increasing consumption of marine ω-3 PUFAs after diagnosis may confer additional benefits to patients with CRC.

  • COLORECTAL CANCER
  • NUTRITION
  • CHEMOPREVENTION

https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2016-311990

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