Eating oily fish daily can keep bowel cancer patients alive

JUST a few mouthfuls of oily fish a day could reduce the risk of bowel cancer patients dying from the disease, a study suggests.

Patients appeared to cut their chance of death by up to 70 per cent by increasing their intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish such as mackerel.

It is thought that omega-3 can suppress tumour growth and block blood supply to cancer cells.

Even small amounts seemed to make a difference. A normal portion of oily fish contains around 1.8g of omega-3, but just 0.3g a day lowered the risk of death within 10 years of diagnosis by 41 per cent.

It suggests that just a few mouthfuls a day, or one or two portions a week might be beneficial.

Those people who upped their intake by a further 0.15g after diagnosis lowered their risk by 70 per cent. However those who cut the amount of fish raised their risk of death by 10 per cent.

Although the researchers say that the findings were observational and no firm conclusions can be drawn, they believe this is the first evidence that omega-3 fatty acids could impact bowel cancer survival.

“If replicated by other studies, our results support the clinical recommendation of increasing marine omega-3 fatty acids among patients with bowel cancer,” said lead researcher Dr Andrew Chan, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

The researchers looked at nearly 200,000 people from two studies which monitored diet and cancer prevalence.

Dr Alister McNeish, lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Reading said: “The paper provides robust evidence that high omega-3 intake is associated with improved colorectal cancer survival in those who have been diagnosed with the condition.

“Omega-3 fish oils are generally considered to improve blood flow so the idea that fish oils reduce tumour blood flow seems paradoxical.”

The research was printed in the BMJ journal Gut.