Fish Oil Supplements Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- Postmenopausal women who take fish oil supplements may reduce their breast cancer risk, a new study suggests.

The study focused on the potential health benefits of 15 different so-called "specialty" supplements to see if they affect breast cancer risk, said study senior author Emily White, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

"The only one that had an effect was fish oil," she said.

Fish oil supplements, made from fatty fish such as salmon, contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

In the study, White and her colleagues asked more than 35,000 Washington state women who were between the ages of 50 and 76 and all past menopause to answer questions about their use of "non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements." All were participants in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study, and none had a history of breast cancer.

After six years of follow up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified.

When the researchers looked at the women who took the fish oil supplements, they found they had a 32 percent reduced risk of breast cancer, which appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type.

The study was published in the July issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

White said that, while studies examining the link between consuming fish or omega-3 fatty acids and breast cancer risk have produced inconsistent results, this is the first study that suggested a connection between fish oil supplements and reduced breast cancer risk.

Other research has suggested that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may be heart-healthy.

White said it's not clear how fish oil may protect against breast cancer, but it could have something to do with the anti-inflammatory properties of fish oil supplements.

She said the reduced risk was found in women who were taking fish oil supplements at the start of the study. She could not quantify the amount of fish oil supplements consumed, because "current use" was defined as any amount taken by a woman.

"Most women used it four to seven days a week. We don't know how much," she noted. But the typical supplement dose, she said, is about a third of a serving to the equivalent of a serving of fish a day.

White cautioned that she's not recommending that fish oil supplements be taken for reducing breast cancer risk, and has issued a statement that "without confirming studies...we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship." The study was "observational" only, and not a randomized trial that compared the use of fish oil with a group not using fish oil and the effect on cancer rates.

Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society, who reviewed the new study, called the research well designed. But, while it's the first study to look at a link between fish oil supplements and breast cancer risk, more study is needed, he said.

"The lower risk of breast cancer among women taking fish oil supplements could be due to chance," Jacobs said.

White agreed that more study is needed. Such research is about to start, she said, with Harvard researchers enrolling participants to look at the impact of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D on the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Get hooked on fish oil

USANA Health Sciences and TOSH Collaborate on New Vitamin Studies

Can Vitamin D Reduce Muscular Weakness in Healthy, Active Adults?Second Study Examines Vitamin C Role in Knee Injury Recovery

Jul 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Can something as a simple as a vitamin supplement help your body recover more quickly from the pain and stiffness associated with vigorous exercise, or even improve recovery from surgery? Researchers at TOSH--The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital and USANA Health Sciences, Inc. are hoping to answer these questions with different studies focused on vitamin supplements.

In the first study, Tyler Barker, PhD., a physiologist at TOSH, and Brian Dixon, PhD., a senior scientist at USANA, are hoping to determine whether vitamin D -- most recently championed as a means to prevent or reduce a person's risk of cardiovascular disease -- can reduce post-exercise muscular weakness in young, physically-active people.

"The implication here is that vitamin D will help shorten recovery time by minimizing muscular weakness," says Dr. Barker. "That could make a significant difference in an individual's performance and help them avoid some of the unpleasant after-effects of vigorous or unaccustomed exercise and establish the basis for future studies conducted at the molecular and cellular level."

Dr. Barker classifies the study participants as "weekend warriors," ages 18 to 45 years old, who are not taking any vitamin supplements. The athletes are randomly divided into three groups: one is given a placebo, the other two groups receive either 200 IU or 4000 IU (international units) of a specially formulated vitamin D (cholecalciferol) supplement.

Study participants will provide several blood samples and muscular strength measures prior to and following intense exercise. Dr. Barker says researchers are only testing study participants during the winter months when a person's vitamin D levels are at their lowest levels. The study began this past winter and is expected to run for two to three more years.

A second study involves patients at TOSH with ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries. Investigators are hoping this study helps them find a complementary therapeutic approach for improving muscular strength in post-surgical patients.

"In results recently published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, we discovered an association between plasma ascorbic acid concentrations prior to surgery and muscular strength gains after surgery," says Dr. Barker. "Specifically, patients with higher levels of vitamin C in their blood before ACL surgery are showing greater strength recovery after surgery."

Which makes sense.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the human body needs vitamin C to produce collagen - which is used to create skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels -- as well as to heal wounds, and repair and maintain healthy cartilage, bones, and teeth.

Vitamins C and E are both antioxidants -- nutrients that slow the aging process and help our bodies eliminate the excess free radicals that accelerate aging. Dr. Barker says lowering oxidative stress and increasing vitamins E and C to adequate and safe levels in the body may improve recovery following ACL surgery.

"Oxidative stress occurs all the time," he says. "It's a natural part of living. But you don't want it to exceed your antioxidant capacity. That's when we find impairments in muscular strength or size, as suggested in experimental animal studies; causation remains to be explicitly tested in humans, a causation that we are uniquely exploring in several different human models."

Participants in this study are all TOSH patients being treated for ACL injuries. Two weeks prior to their surgery, their blood is tested for vitamin C and E levels, and then each leg is separately tested for strength. Patients are given a placebo, customized vitamins E and C, or a multi-vitamin/mineral (USANA Essentials). Patients will supplement for a total of 18 weeks: starting 2 weeks prior to and concluding 16 weeks after surgery. Single leg strength and blood measures are tested again several times -- at two, three and four months post-surgery.

"We hope that our studies will provide evidence-based results that identify complementary therapeutic approaches for patients recovering from ACL surgery," says Dr. Barker. "The idea that we can use vitamin supplements to build strength and improve physical rehabilitation is provocative. Through the collaborative research efforts between USANA and TOSH, we are positioned to advance the body of knowledge regarding complementary and alternative medicine approaches in diverse human conditions."

In both studies, USANA is providing custom and existing supplements (i.e., USANA Essentials) with designated and certified levels of purity and potency. This is crucial, Dr. Barker says, because of the lack of oversight by some supplement manufacturers. Many supplements can have significantly more or less of the active ingredient than the label suggests.

"At TOSH, we appreciate and feel extremely fortunate for the collaborative research relationship established with USANA Health Sciences and the Research and Development department therein," says Dr. Barker. "In a scientific setting, it is important to know exactly what you are studying and what you are providing to subjects/patients. USANA Health Sciences provides remarkable scientific and research support, pharmaceutical grade supplements, and quality assurance of individual ingredients."

Dr. Dixon notes that USANA uses the highest quality raw materials in their manufacturing process and takes great pains to ensure their final product meets the highest standards.

He says they are excited to be part of these two important studies.

"TOSH's reputation precedes itself," says Dr. Dixon. "We are proud to be working together on these projects. TOSH has the ability to assess muscular-based end points with distinct clinical applications to patient recovery, whereas USANA examines mechanisms predominantly at the molecular and biochemical level. Working together, we should be able to identify if alterations at the molecular or cellular level improve clinical- and functional-based outcomes in patients."

Besides providing the supplements for both of these studies, USANA is also providing a partial funding to the Vitamin E and C study in ACL patients. The Deseret Foundation at Intermountain Healthcare is funding both the Vitamin D and Vitamin E and C studies. Persons who are interested in taking part in the studies can contact Dr. Barker at TOSH at 801-314-4951.