A recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, provides further evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle asked 35,016 postmenopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements to treat menopause symptoms. After 6 years of follow-up in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Registry.

The follow-up demonstrated that regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, was linked with a 32% reduced risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.

Evidence continues to emerge about fish oil’s protective effect on cardiovascular disease and cancer. Harvard researchers are currently enrolling patients for a randomized Vitamin D and omega-3 trial to assess the impact of fish oil supplements and Vitamin D on cancer, heart disease, and stroke in 20,000 US men aged 60 years and older and women aged 65 years and older who do not have a history of these diseases and have never taken supplements.

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