The effects of EPA and DHA enriched fish oil on nutritional and immunological markers of treatment naïve breast cancer patients: a randomized double-blind controlled trial

Study answer

What this study found

Fish oil supplementation produced a clear omega-3 enrichment and was associated with a more favorable inflammatory profile, but it did not significantly change hsCRP, CD4+ T lymphocytes, or proinflammatory cytokines/PGE2. In the fish oil group, plasma total n-3 fatty acids increased from 3.3 [2.4-4.9] to 6.5 [4.3-8.7] (p = 0.004), EPA rose from 0.4 [0.1-0.8] to 1.5 [0.9-2.1] (p = 0.004), DHA rose from 2.5 [1.9-3.6] to 4.6 [3.4-6.2] (p = 0.007), and the n-6:n-3 ratio fell from 7.7 [5.3-9.7] to 3.8 [3.0-4.7] (p = 0.002). The authors concluded that EPA and DHA supplementation helped maintain…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial in treatment-naive breast cancer patients newly diagnosed and awaiting surgery in Brasilia, Brazil.

Intervention

The active arm received 2 g/day of fish oil concentrate orally for 30 days, taken as 1 g capsules twice daily with lunch and dinner.

Key limitation

The active arm was small (18 participants) and treatment lasted only 30 days, limiting power and durability of inference.

View full study detailsView sourceOpen PDF

Original abstract