Breast cancer: higher average survival thanks to Omega 3 DHA

Patients affected by breast cancer (with metastases) who take Omega 3 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) during chemotherapy can increase their average survival by 8 months. This was demonstrated by a phase II clinical trial coordinated by Philippe Bougnoux at the Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U921 in Tours (France). Based on the results published in the British Journal of Cancer, the authors concluded that a daily dose of 1.8 grams of DHA produces no side effects. This represents a new step forward in cancer research and further confirms the benefits of Omega-3 on some types of tumors.

Omega-3 and chemotherapy sensitivity

The development of metastases makes breast cancer a lethal disease. For this reason, cancer treatments at this stage aim to reduce symptoms and delay death without causing additional toxicity to the patient. DHA, a dietary Omega-3, may be useful for this purpose. The French researchers explain that enriching the membranes of tumor cells with this fatty acid makes them more sensitive to chemotherapy.

The study

Bougnoux and his team involved 25 breast cancer patients to test the effect of DHA administration on the efficacy of chemotherapy. During this clinical trial, the women were treated with anthracycline (a chemotherapy drug) and took 1.8 grams per day of DHA. The patients involved had a particularly poor prognosis, with 68% of cases involving liver metastases and other tissues. The treatment lasted from 2 to 6 months, and each patient was followed for an average of 31 months. Data analysis demonstrated that DHA intake allowed for an average survival of 22 months.

The authors consider this result encouraging. Indeed, without DHA treatment, the average survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer was about 14 months. Moreover, adding Omega-3 to anthracycline treatment was not associated with any side effects.

Help from Omega-3

According to the study authors, the results demonstrated for the first time that a nutritional intervention focused on DHA is a plausible approach to increase survival in metastatic breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The efficacy of this Omega-3 may be based on its sensitizing action specifically toward chemotherapy. The usefulness of this approach could be confirmed by more advanced clinical trials.  

Source 

1. Bougnoux P, Hajjaji N, Ferrasson MN, Giraudeau B, Couet C, Le Floch O, “Improving outcome of chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer by docosahexaenoic acid: a phase II trial”, Br J Cancer. 2009 Dec 15;101(12):1978-85. Epub 2009 Nov 17