Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Be Used To Fight Cancer

There has been a study performed by scientists as a collaborative effort between UC Davis laboratories and Harvard University which showed that a product from a metabolized omega-3 fatty acid helps combat cancer by cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrients that fuel tumor growth.

The metabolite is epoxy docosapentaenoic acid (EDP), an endogenous compound produced by the human body from the omega-3 fatty acid named docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is found in fish oil and breast milk. The studies involved animals and it was found that EDP inhibits the formation of new blood vessels in the body, a process known as angiogenesis.

The way in which tumors grow is by taking over the normal biological process of angiogenesis and by inhibiting this process the growth and spread of tumors in mice was reduced.

It is hoped by researchers that future studies will determine how EDP might be used safely when combined with current anti-angiogenesis drugs for the treatment of cancer.

“Our investigation opens up a new understanding of the pathways by which omega-3 fatty acids exert their biologic effects,” said Guodong Zhang, the lead author of the article and a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Bruce Hammock in the Department of Entomology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“As far as we know, EDPs are the first signaling lipids that have been discovered to have such potent anti-cancer effects. Researchers may be able to use EDPs as structural targets to develop stable analogs as anti-cancer agents,” Zhang said.

This is obviously a breakthrough that is still in its early days and there is still a great deal of research and testing to be carried out. But it has uncovered a previously unrecognized anti-cancer effect of omega-3 fatty acids.

You can find out more about the research that has been carried out at UC Davis by reading this News Release.