New information about fish oil and breast cancer

This is from the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center’s ‘Cancerwise’:

Study Finds Promising Link Between Fish Oil, Breast Cancer

By Lana Maciel, MD Anderson Staff Writer

Doctors have often recommended that patients take fish oil supplements to reduce the risk of heart disease. But a recent study indicates that taking this supplement, which has strong anti-inflammatory properties, may also combat the risk for breast cancer.

The Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study surveyed 35,016 post-menopausal women, from 50 to 76 years old, who had no history of breast cancer. After six years, those who reported taking fish oil supplements regularly had a 32% reduced risk for developing invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of breast cancer, compared with those who did not take supplements.

“This study is one of the largest studies that have come out showing that there may be a role for fish oil in the prevention of cancer, specifically breast cancer,” says Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor in the departments of Behavioral Science and General Oncology and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson. “We know fish oil is useful in relation to cardiovascular health, and the jury is still out on whether it helps in the prevention of breast cancer, but if used appropriately, it should not be harmful.”

Studying the fish oil connection
Researchers are still unsure of the direct connection between fish oil and breast cancer risk. Although some studies have not found a link between breast cancer and eating more fatty fish, it is possible that fish oil supplements have a much higher amount of omega-3 fatty acids than what is typically found in the fish itself.

Still, research on how the supplement affects various cancers continues. Peiying Yang, Ph.D., assistant professor in MD Anderson’s Integrative Medicine Program, recently received a grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the effects of fish oil supplements on lung cancer risk.

“Fish oil, in general, is a very good anti-inflammatory agent, and inflammation plays an important role in cancer development,” Yang says.

Although previous studies indicate there is a positive link between fish oil and reduced cancer incidence, researchers note that there is not sufficient evidence to make a public health recommendation.

“I would not recommend that people start taking fish oil specifically to prevent breast cancer because the data is just not there yet,” says Bette Caan, Dr.P.H., senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. “But if they are taking it for other reasons, they should continue.”

Nutritional supplements. Do you really need them?

This is a soapbox that I’ve stood firmly on for a couple decades now, as study after study has failed to show conclusive evidence that supplements do anything more than drain your wallet of money. In these hard economic times, it’s important to overcome wishful thinking about supplements. This is hard in the face of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent marketing them to us, and the little that is done to control the claims they make.

You can also thank the anti-government types for this. Leaving it up to the supplement industry to police themselves hasn’t been a success under any measure.

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Health notes: clinical trials, weight loss and mood

A couple items that I read today in the Johns Hopkins Medical Letter ‘Health After 50’ that were of interest to me:

Willingness to simply take part in a clinical trial - whether you actually  do or not - seems to make a difference in your future good health. I found this interesting since, during my treatment for cancer at the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, I participated in every clinical trial they offered. I was getting writers’ cramp. Not really, but you get the idea.

According to British researchers,when they studied over 2,000 heart patients who had been asked if they wished to participate in a clinical trial, after 55 months, those who said ‘yes’ were half as likely to have died as those who were not interested. They think this might be because those who express more of a willingness to try a trial might be more compliant regarding their doctors’ instructions in regard to treatment, and more accepting of their condition.

Having been there, done that. this sounds very plausible.

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Radiation therapy safe, effective and lifesaving

There is a good article in The New York Times that will, no doubt be misinterpreted by many cancer patients considering whether or not to have lifesaving radiation therapy.

The article is about several horrible, and completely avoidable, ‘accidents’ where cancer patients in New York state hospitals received overdoses of radiation.

The bottom line, from me anyway - and I had seven weeks of radiation therapy for my Stage IIIa breast cancer - is this:

This is what you get from a for-profit, often ad hoc, based system of medicine.

This is why medical consumers must understand why it is so important to do their homework, get second opinions, and go to the best facility possible. That isn’t easy for a sick person. I know. But I can attest that my treatment at the best cancer center in the world - M. D. Anderson - was no more expensive than had I gotten it in Reno, Nevada.

At centers of excellence - like M. D. Anderson or Sloan-Kettering, for example - they are not doing radiation therapy as a sideline, value added service. It’s an integral part of the institution’s mission. There are more hours, more patients, successfully treated there than at the average hospital - therefore the technicians and providers have exponentially more experience. The safety protocols are rigorous to say the least.

Please, don’t base your decision to get radiation therapy or not on these horrible examples. Base your decision on sound, critical thinking and evidence of efficacy. And go where they do a very lot of it.

Here is a good article by one of my team members at The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas in the newest edition of Cancerwise:

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Conquest: the online magazine for M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

There are a lot of great articles in this months’ issue of Conquest:

The first symposium involving the nation’s two premier cancer research organizations took place this April at the American Association for Cancer Research’s 100th annual meeting.

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Integrative and alternative medicine in cancer treatment

Over the lasts seven years, since my own cancer diagnosis, I’ve watched as many other cancer patients utilized integrative mind-body techniques to battle their cancer, but also watched with alarm as patients turned away from mainstream treatment to ‘alternative’ modalities. A lot of the problem lies in not understanding the difference between integrative/complementary and alternative.

This article from the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, ‘Oncolog’ explains some of the finer points that cancer patients should know

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How to really help a sick friend

From OncoLog, March 2009, Vol. 54, No. 3

House Call: How You Can Help a Seriously Ill Friend

When a friend is seriously ill, what are some practical things that well-wishers can do? It’s a question that many of us struggle to answer. We sought advice from a group of experts on the topic—the Anderson Network, an organization of cancer survivors who volunteer their support for cancer patients and caregivers.

Here is a small sample of the suggestions offered by Network members:

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Lung Cancer Gene Discovery A Sign of Cancer's Future

Science is tackling gene-caused flaws, cancer stem cells, and earlier detection of tumors

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Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy may be enough for early stage breast cancer

Early-stage breast cancer patients with little or no cancer in their lymph nodes may not require post-surgery radiation if they receive chemotherapy before a mastectomy, according to results of a new study.

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The role of exercise in breast cancer outcomes

The jury is no longer out on the measurable benefits to be derived from regular moderate exercise among breast cancer patients. A growing body of evidence say, without qualification or exception,  that exercise increases the chances of beating the malignancy and ultimately survival.

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University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Video: Breast cancer diagnosis in young women

Unfortunately, breast cancer is not just a disease of the older woman, and the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in younger women poses special challenges. The breast tissue of younger women is usually more dense, and that makes an accurate reading of mammogram more difficult. Also, younger women, especially those without a family history of breast cancer may mistakenly believe they are not at risk, and therefore do not participate in screenings for breast cancer.

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