Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 May;17(5):1136-43.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-2803.

A 22-year prospective study of fish, n-3 fatty acid intake, and colorectal cancer risk in men

Megan N Hall  1 , Jorge E Chavarro, I-Min Lee, Walter C Willett, Jing Ma
Affiliations

A 22-year prospective study of fish, n-3 fatty acid intake, and colorectal cancer risk in men

Megan N Hall et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 May.

Erratum in

  • Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Oct;17(10):2901

Abstract

Background: Fish is the main dietary source of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, which have been suggested to play a protective role in colorectal cancer development in laboratory and animal studies. Human studies have not shown consistent results. We examined the association between intakes of fish and n-3 fatty acids from fish and colorectal cancer risk in men enrolled in the Physicians' Health Study.

Methods: The Physicians' Health Study began as a randomized trial to examine the effect of aspirin and beta-carotene supplementation on cancer and cardiovascular disease. Fish intake was assessed at the 12-month follow-up with an abbreviated food-frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate multivariate relative risks for colorectal cancer for the categories of fish intake and quartiles of n-3 fatty acid intake.

Results: During 22 years of follow-up, 500 men had a confirmed diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Fish intake was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk [multivariate relative risk (95% confidence interval) for highest versus lowest category, 0.63 (0.42-0.95); P trend = 0.02] [corrected] The inverse association was observed for both colon and rectal cancers. Our findings for n-3 fatty acids were similar to those for fish; the multivariate relative risk (95% confidence interval) of total colorectal cancer for the highest versus lowest quartile of n-3 fatty acids was 0.74 (0.57-0.95; P trend = 0.01).

Conclusions: Our results from this long-term prospective study suggest that intakes of fish and long-chain n-3 fatty acids from fish may decrease the risk for colorectal cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Blood levels of long-chain n-3 fatty acids by category of fish intake. Abscissa, Fish intake (servings per week); ordinate, Mean blood level of total long-chain n-3 fatty acids (% of total fatty acids).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Larsson SC, Kumlin M, Ingelman-Sundberg M, Wolk A. Dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids for the prevention of cancer: a review of potential mechanisms. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79(6):935–45. - PubMed
    1. Reddy BS. Omega-3 fatty acids in colorectal cancer prevention. Int J Cancer. 2004;112(1):1–7. - PubMed
    1. Singh J, Hamid R, Reddy BS. Dietary fat and colon cancer: modulation of cyclooxygenase-2 by types and amount of dietary fat during the postinitiation stage of colon carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 1997;57(16):3465–70. - PubMed
    1. Deschner EE, Lytle JS, Wong G, Ruperto JF, Newmark HL. The effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) on azoxymethanol-induced focal areas of dysplasia and colon tumor incidence. Cancer. 1990;66(11):2350–6. - PubMed
    1. Bostick RM, Potter JD, Kushi LH, Sellers TA, Steinmetz KA, McKenzie DR, et al. Sugar, meat, and fat intake, and non-dietary risk factors for colon cancer incidence in Iowa women (United States) Cancer Causes Control. 1994;5(1):38–52. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances