Drilling into the statistics revealed that elevated ranges omega-6 and omega-3 have been related to vital reductions in 14 and 5 site-specific cancers, respectively, in accordance with knowledge revealed within the Worldwide Journal of Most cancers.
The evaluation was carried out by scientists on the College of Georgia, Vanderbilt College and Cornell College in the US utilizing knowledge from over 250,000 individuals within the UK Biobank over a interval of about 13 years. Throughout that point, virtually 30,000 folks have been identified with most cancers.
“Our examine laid a stable basis for future mechanistic research into the roles of PUFAs [polyunsaturated fatty acids] within the etiology of varied cancers,” wrote the authors, led by Yuchen Zhang, a doctoral pupil within the College of Georgia’s School of Public Well being.
“It additionally supplied insights into the event of most cancers prevention methods by managing circulating PUFAs.”
Omega-3 and omega-6
The examine provides to the general physique of science supporting the myriad well being advantages of omega-3 fatty acids, such because the marine-derived eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 n-3) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3 n-3) from crops like flax.
Omega-6 fatty acids are present in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, and embody linoleic acid (18:2 n-6), arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) and gamma-linolenic acid (18:3 n-6).
Examine particulars
The brand new examine analyzed knowledge from 253,138 folks, with 29,838 folks being identified with most cancers in the course of the common comply with up of 12.9 years.
Crunching the numbers revealed that total omega-3 and omega-6 intakes have been linked to a 1% and a pair of% discount within the danger of total most cancers, respectively.
Evaluation of 19 site-specific cancers confirmed that elevated ranges of omega-6 have been linked to reductions within the danger of 14 of those, whereas greater omega-3 ranges have been linked with a discount in 5 site-specific cancers, together with colon, abdomen and lung most cancers.
“The associations of omega-6 PUFAs have been stronger within the youthful age group and in ladies, whereas the associations of omega-3 PUFAs have been extra distinguished within the older group, in males, and in present people who smoke,” wrote Zhang and her co-workers.
Nonetheless, a optimistic affiliation was reported for greater omega-3 ranges (and DHA particularly) and a slight improve within the danger of prostate most cancers, which the researchers famous is at odds with “most research [which] didn’t discover vital associations with dietary consumption or blood stage of omega-3 PUFAs.
“Additional research are warranted to discover the roles of particular person omega-3 PUFAs within the etiology of prostate most cancers,” they added.
Commenting on the general findings, Dr. Kaixiong Ye, the corresponding creator of the examine, mentioned: “For girls, it’s a simple choice: Eat extra omega-3.”
Supply: Worldwide Journal of Most cancers
Revealed on-line forward of print, doi: 10.1002/ijc.35226
“Associations of plasma omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids with total and 19 site-specific cancers: A population-based cohort examine in UK Biobank”
Authors: Y. Zhang, et al.
