Could you lower your risk of prostate cancer simply by eating a good form of fat found in everyday foods like fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils?
If you have the right genes, the answer could be yes. Wake Forest University researchers who studied the effects of a diet rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in mice with a genetic mutation known to put them at increased risk for prostate cancer find the diet made a difference.
The study was carried out in mice genetically engineered to have a high risk of the cancer. Mice who were fed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids had slower tumor growth and longer survival times than mice fed a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids — a bad kind of fat that may interact with genes to worsen the disease.
They furthered the findings by then introducing an enzyme called omega-3 desaturase into the mice. The enzyme is known to turn omega-6 into omega-3. Those mice also had reduced tumor growth.
How does omega-3 impact the cancer? The investigators believe it’s all tied up with a protein called Bad, which plays a role in cell death.
“This study highlights the importance of gene-diet interactions in prostate cancer,” write the authors. The next step is to find out if a diet rich in omega-3 could slow down tumor growth in men who have already developed the disease.”
SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Investigation, published online June 21, 2007