The traditional diet of Greece and cancer.

[R.B.]

Sorry over familiarity with the terms on my part (-:

PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acid

n3 = Omega 3

n6 = Omega 6

Marine 'PUFA' are likely to be mainly Omega 3 EPA and DHA

RR = relative risk

It looks like they split the groups into 3, and are saying that the group with the most Omega 6 and the least Omega 3 in the diet had approximately twice the risk of breast cancer of the group with the highest Omega 3 and lowest Omega 6.

They are saying at the most basic level that the results suggest risk of BC is more about the Omega 3:6 balance rather than the absolute amounts of Omega 3 or 6 in the diet.

I have not seen the whole paper, and Chinese dietary Omega 3 : 6 ratios historically would have been better that those in the west, so I just post this as another twig in the Omega 3 : 6 debate.


This is part of the pattern seen in this thread.

There is a French paper posted here somewhere looking at the risk that excised breast lumps were cancerous. They looked at the amount of long chain Omega 3 in the breast tissue v the number of lumps that were cancerous. They split the group into four. The women with the highest amounts of long chain Omega 3 had a 70% lower risk that the lumps were cancerous than the women with the lowest amounts of long chain Omega 3.

Thought provoking stuff (-:

[R.B.]

The plant based Omega 3 (as found in flax oil) may reduce the invasive potential of cancer cells a 1994 paper suggests. This is particularly interesting as it looks a breast fat tissue. ( found whilst looking for something unrelated as usual)


Alpha-Linolenic acid content of adipose breast tissue: a host determinant of
the risk of early metastasis in breast cancer
P. Bougnoux"2, S. Koscielny3, V. Chajes', P. Descamps4, C. Couet5 & G. Calais'
'Laboratoire de Biologie des Tuneurs and 2Clinique d'Oncologie et Radiotherapie, JE 313, Faculte de Medecine, 37032 Tours,
France; 3Departement de Statistique Medicale, Institut Gustave-Roussy, 94805 Vilejuif, France; 'Clinique Gvnecologique et
Obstetricale, CHU, 37044 Tours, France; 5Laboratoire de Nutrition, JE 313, Faculte de Medecine, 37032 Tours, France.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...00054-0150.pdf


"Summuary: The association between the levels of various fatty acids in adipose breast tissue and the emergence of visceral metastases was prospectively studied in a cohort of 121 patients with an initia!ly localised breast cancer. Adipose breast tissue was obtained at the time of initial surgery, and its fatty acid content analysed by capillary gas chromatography. A low level of a-linolenic acid (18:3f,3) in adipose breast tissue was associated with positive axillary lymph node status and with the presence of vascular invasion, but not with tumour size or mitotic index. After an average 31 months of follow-up, 21 patients developed metastases. Large tumour size, high mitotic index, presence of vascular invasion and low level of 18:3,, were single factors significantly associated with an increased risk of metastasis."


"The main cause of death in breast cancer patients is the development of distant metastases. Since a reduced 18:3,3 content of breast adipose tissue appears to be the first determinant of their occurrence in our series of patients, dietary supplementation of breast cancer patients in conditions
leading to a replenishment of adipose stores of 18:3,3 might delay or even prevent their clinical appearance."