EMBARGOED until 00:01 on 11/09/03 UK Time. Headline : BMJ Specialist Journals Press Release
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GUT
Fish oil may help prevent wasting and weight loss in advanced cancer
Effect of a protein and energy dense n-3 fatty acid enriched oral supplement on loss of weight and lean tissue in cancer cachexia: a randomised double blind trial 2003; 52: 1479-86
Commentary: Nutritional therapy for cancer cachexia 2003; 52: 1391-2
Fish oil may help to prevent the severe wasting and weight loss (cachexia), which characterises some types of advanced cancer, suggests research in Gut.
Cachexia is a major factor contributing to the illness and death of patients with advanced cancer, as a result of the changes in metabolism and loss of appetite created by the disease.
The research team divided 200 patients with pancreatic cancer into two groups: 105 were given a high calorie, high protein supplement; and 95 were given an energy dense, high protein supplement enriched with omega 3 essential fatty acid and vitamins E and C.
Omega 3 essential fatty acids are found in fatty fish, such as herring and salmon.
Each group were asked to drink two cans a day of their assigned supplement. This was equivalent to 480 ml of fluid, 620 kilocalories, 32 g of protein, plus or minus 2.2 g of omega 3 fatty acid (specifically eicosapentaenoic acid, equal to 6 g of fish oil a day) and vitamins C and E at four times and eight times, respectively, the recommended daily amount. The study lasted eight weeks.
On average, patients had lost 17% of their body weight and were losing over 3 kilos of weight a month before they started taking the supplements. After eight weeks, weight loss had stopped in both groups, but average supplement intake was only around 1.5 cans a day. The researchers therefore took precise measurements of how much both sets of patients had managed to consume over the study period.
They found that there was a direct and significant correspondence between the amount of fish oil enriched supplement patients consumed and the amount of weight and muscle bulk (lean body mass) gained. This was not seen among those patients taking the supplement without the added fish oil, suggesting that it is this component that is therapeutic.
The patients taking the oil enriched supplement also reported a significantly improved quality of life.
The authors conclude that further research is needed to confirm their findings, but suggest that nutritional supplements enriched with omega 3 essential fatty acids may be a promising treatment for cancer cachexia.
In an accompanying commentary, Robert Grimble, Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Southampton, explains the biology behind the wasting and weight loss in advanced cancer. He suggests that it would be interesting to find out if this nutritional approach would work in cancers in which there is a low level of inflammation; cachexia is severe in pancreatic cancer.
Click here to view full paper:http://press.psprings.co.uk/gut/october/1479_gt12666.pdfClick here to view full commentary:http://press.psprings.co.uk/gut/october/1391_commentaries.pdf[Please note these links will remain live for one month only from the date of this press release]
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