High fish intake may improve survival after breast cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake from fish and other dietary sources may provide a potential strategy to improve survival after breast cancer, a new study published online early in the journal Cancer has found.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from 1,463 women newly diagnosed with first primary breast cancer from a population-based follow-up study conducted on Long Island, New York. All participants had been interviewed an average of about 3 months after diagnosis to assess risk and prognostic factors. During a median follow-up of 14.7 years, 485 deaths occurred. Researchers in this study were investigated whether dietary ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake benefits survival after breast cancer.

Results of the study showed that all-cause mortality was reduced among women with breast cancer who reported the highest quartile of intake for tuna, other baked/broiled fish, and the dietary long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexanoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, compared with women who reported no intake of those fish or fatty acids.