Low-Fat Diet Plus Fish Oil Supplements Slows Proliferation Of Prostate Cancer Cells

UCLA researchers found in a six-week clinical study that men with prostate cancer who ate a low-fat diet supplemented with fish oil experienced slower cancer cell growth. The growth rates compared favorably to proliferation rates experienced by men on a high-fat Western-style diet. The findings are important because the slower proliferation of the cancer cells lowers the chances that the cancer will spread beyond the prostate. In addition, the men on the low-fat, fish oil-supplement diet also showed changes in the composition of cell membranes in both healthy cells and cancer cells in the prostates. The scientists found that the membranes had higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, and lower levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil.