Patients and their doctors often wonder if there is a real benefit to change your diet or start taking supplements after a cancer diagnosis. The answer is yes. According to a new study – with 1600+ colorectal cancer patients — if the change you make means adding more omega-3 fats from fish and fish oil supplements to your daily intake, your health and your survival can benefit.
This research involved a long-term study of 121,700 nurses and 51,529 doctors in the US. These health professionals filled out questionnaires about their lifestyle and health every two years, and kept detailed records of their diets every four years. The study lasted from 1976 to 2010, so it is a treasure trove of data. The research team headed by Andrew Chan, MD at Massachusetts General reviewed records of 1659 participants in this group who were diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer and evaluated omega-3 intake from fish and fish oil supplements right before and right after the cancer diagnosis with follow-up data on their survival. (Lifestyle characteristics, such as, physical activity, smoking, multivitamins, fish consumption, fish oil supplements, alcohol use, BMI and other variables were put into a multivariate statistical analysis. This evaluation separated out the impact of omega-3 intake at the initial post-diagnosis point and the impact of changes in omega-3 intake before and after the cancer diagnosis.
The analysis of omega-3 intake in questionnaires 3 years after diagnosis showed that those who had the highest omega-3 consumption had a 41% reduction in their risk of dying from colon cancer compared to those with the least intake. Least intake meant less than 100 milligrams of omega-3s per day, while the highest intake — linked with the best survival – was a daily intake of 300 milligrams or more of omega-3s. Most came from fish: the highest-intake group ate 3 servings of fish a week, while the lowest intake group ate only half a serving of fish per week. A small number of patients in the highest-intake group took fish oil supplements.
What was truly dramatic, though, was the effect of increasing (or decreasing) omega-3 intake after a cancer diagnosis. The patients who increased their omega-3 intake by at least 150 milligrams per day were 70% less likely to die than patients who didn’t make much change in their intake. The patients who decreased their omega-3 intake by 150 milligrams per day had a slight increase in mortality relative to the no-change population. This pattern of change was highly statistically significant (p<.001).
These results are not surprising, given the inflammatory nature of colon cancer, which omega-3s can counteract with their substantial anti-inflammatory properties. Other studies of omega-3s in colon cancer have also demonstrated improvements in the immune status of colorectal cancer patients. At the Block Center, we routinely recommend that colon cancer patients increase their omega-3 intake, especially those who show signs of excessive inflammation or immune suppression on our terrain panel lab testing.
There are also lessons to be learned from data presented in the paper about other lifestyle variables in the patients with the highest post-diagnosis omega-3s. These patients also had significantly higher levels of physical activity, multivitamin use, vitamin D and fiber intake than the low-intake group. They also were less likely to smoke, and had higher folate and calcium intake. These variables were accounted for in the statistical analysis. They do suggest, though, that the high omega-3 group had an overall healthy lifestyle that may have contributed to their good survival but that may not have been accounted for in the analysis.
If you want to apply this information to your clinical situation, there are two ways to go about it. You may want to increase your fish intake to 3 servings a week, as the highest-intake group did. You should emphasize cold-water fish that are high in omega-3s. You can also start taking fish oil supplements. If you take fish oil supplements, do note that these patients took 300 milligrams of omega-3s, not 300 milligrams of fish oil. Omega-3s are compounds, abbreviated as EPA and DHA that are the active ingredients in fish oil, which also contains several other compounds. You can find out how many milligrams of EPA and DHA are in a fish oil supplement by looking on the label of the bottle. We also recommend that you consult with a Block Center dietitian about improving your overall diet, and start to exercise if you are not already doing so. Even routine relaxation practices can help to substantially reduce inflammation. Thus our program is designed utilizing these important synergies and tailored to meet your needs.