Women's Health Blog: Breast Cancer and DHA

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DHA omega-3 boosts survival time for advanced breast cancer by one full year

At WellWise, we are always on the lookout for women’s health news. We found this study about breast cancer and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) that we feel you should know about. The research results show that a high dose DHA increases advanced breast cancer survival time by one full year, or 55%. That’s major, and every woman on breast cancer chemo must learn about this.

In January 2010 the British Journal of Cancer published a study of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The study followed the progress of 25 women whose cancer was severe and well advanced. In some 68 percent of the women, the cancer had metastasized to the liver and other parts of their bodies.

Some of the women in the study were given 1.8 grams of DHA omega-3 for 2-6 months, along with their chemotherapy, the rest were not.

The average survival time for these women was 22 months. However, the women with the highest levels of DHA in their blood survived for 34 months. Not a cure, mind you, but it demonstrated to the researchers that DHA is doing something very important, and suggests that DHA may help improve survival by sensitizing tumors to chemotherapy.

Considering that the American Cancer Society reports that in 2010 about 39,840 women died from breast cancer in the US, any positive news is hopeful. The researchers said in their report, “Our data show for the first time that a dietary intervention targeted on DHA is a feasible approach that has potential to substantially increase survival in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy.”

As a general warning: high dose omega 3 can thin your blood, and most chemotherapy patients are already on blood thinners such as Coumadin. If you consider following the protocol of this DHA study, then consult your doctor before taking such a daily mega dose of DHA.

DHA is available in supplement form in fish oil, algal oil and krill oil. 

You can read more of James Townsend's health blogs here.

James Townsend is editor in chief of WellWise.org, a nonprofit organization for the dissemination of science-based information about supplements, nutrients and strategies for health.

References:

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v101/n12/full/6605441a.html