欧米茄3脂肪酸可能会减慢乳腺癌的扩散和生长 Omega 3 fatty acids may slow the spread and growth of breast cancer

An animal study suggests that omega 3 fatty acids which are found in fish, eggs, algae, dietary supplements, flaxseed and walnuts may slow the spread and growth of breast cancer cells.

The study in the journal Clinical & Experimental Metastasis shows that among mice with cancer, those fed a diet supplemented with dietary omega 3 fatty acids blocked cancer cells from spreading to other organs. Researchers claimed that this anticancer effect has something to do with the fact that omega 3 fatty acids support immune and antiinflammatory systems.

For the study, two groups of adult female mice were fed a same liquid diet with same amounts of calories and fat. The difference is, the diet for one group contained omega 3 fatty acids and the other diet contained vegetable oils high in mega 6 fatty acids. Afterwards, mice were injected with highly aggressive breast cancer cells which led to the development of mammary tumors (similar to breast cancer in humans). The cancer is known to spread to other organs including the lung, liver and bones, but less likely to the heart, kidneys and ovaries. After 35 days, mice were sacrified and autopsied to examine cancer cells.

The researchers found mice fed omega 3 fatty acids had few cancers and if developed, the cancers had smaller sizes,compared to those fed omega 6 fatty acids rich diet. Some mice treated with omega 3 fatty acids never got any cancer.

Also they found mice treated with omega 3 fatty acids had more T-cells and less inflammation biomarkers indicating that omega 3 fatty acids can help boost anticancer immunity and suppress cancer-triggering inflammation.

Reference: Khadge, S. et al (2018). Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Decrease Mammary Tumor Growth, Multiorgan Metastasis and Enhance Survival, Clinical & Experimental Metastasis DOI: 10.1007/s10585-018-9941-7

一項動物研究表明，在魚，蛋，藻類，膳食補充劑，亞麻籽和核桃中發現的歐米加3脂肪酸可能會減慢乳腺癌細胞的擴散和生長。

《臨床與實驗轉移》雜誌上的研究表明，在患有癌症的小鼠中，那些飲食中補充了膳食中的歐米伽3脂肪酸的飲食可以阻止癌細胞擴散到其他器官。研究人員聲稱這種抗癌作用與omega 3脂肪酸支持免疫和抗炎系統有關。

為了進行研究，兩組成年雌性小鼠接受了相同的流質飲食，攝入了相同量的卡路里和脂肪。所不同的是，一組的飲食中含有omega 3脂肪酸，另一組的飲食中含有富含mega 6脂肪酸的植物油。之後，向小鼠注射高度侵襲性的乳腺癌細胞，導致乳腺癌的發展（類似於人類的乳腺癌）。已知癌症會擴散到其他器官，包括肺，肝和骨骼，但不太可能擴散到心臟，腎臟和卵巢。 35天后，將小鼠處死並解剖以檢查癌細胞。

研究人員發現，與富含ω6脂肪酸飲食的小鼠相比，餵養ω3脂肪酸的小鼠罹患癌症的可能性很小，而且如果發展，這些癌症的大小也較小。一些用歐米加3脂肪酸治療的小鼠從未得任何癌症。

他們還發現，用歐米加3脂肪酸治療的小鼠具有更多的T細胞和較少的炎症生物標記，這表明歐米加3脂肪酸可以幫助增強抗癌免疫力並抑制引發癌症的炎症。