Fatty Acid Cancer Fighter?

PatKelley

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I just came across this:
What worked with DH is not a common medical treatment such as chemotherapy or surgical excision. It was a nutritional intervention, drastically increasing the patient's intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are often found in fish oil or golden algae oil.
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It also talks about reducing Omega-6 fatty acid intake - found in grains.

This makes me wonder again about the estuarine/swimming ape idea (not the fully aquatic one) of human stock originating near the coast, this along with needing iodine in (relatively) larger doses, celiac disease, poor Niacin synthesis, and so on.

Aside from the anatomical and behavioral cues, there appear to be a few nutritive ones.
 
I've occasionally idly wondered why the "littoral ape" idea seems to rouse so much hostility. Our ancestors have to have lived somewhere - and we do seem to have a few hints that the beach was a good spot. I'd live by a beach rather than a savannah any day... though I am quite happy with my lake.
 
What worked with DH is not a common medical treatment such as chemotherapy or surgical excision. It was a nutritional intervention, drastically increasing the patient's intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are often found in fish oil or golden algae oil.
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Oh, of course, if he consumed omega-3 fatty acids and then his cancer tumors shrunk, the omega-3 fatty acids must have caused them to shrink. :rolleyes:
 
We try to get people of fish oil where I volunteer. The physician that volunteers at this drop in center for people with mental illnesses says that some studies show use of fish oil can help with depression and mental function. IT takes a long time though, and fish oil is expensive. (You have to know most of the people are on disability). one of the more recent studies shows it can take up to 3 months.

Still, we found some cheaper pills at Wal Mart and stock up. It at least makes the people feel they are being proactive in their treatment. And it's supposed to be good for your heart too.
 
The fellow who gave him the Omega-3 fatty acids had been researching this in mice for years, showing effects on tumor growth. Whether or not does need to be investigated, as the animal research shows positive results (something which the placebo effect does not do...) but had not proceeded to human trails. While this is wildly unethical and does not demonstrate a trend, it is not nearly as unethical as subjecting the poor guy to chelation therapy, Reiki, or other false hopes. He didn't purport to be able to cure the cancer either, just get it under control. It allegedly improves the response of cancer cells to chemotherapy.
 
PatKelley said:
Whether or not does need to be investigated, as the animal research shows positive results (something which the placebo effect does not do...) but had not proceeded to human trails. While this is wildly unethical and does not demonstrate a trend,
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... which makes it a little premature to use this as evidence for the Aquatic Ape theory.

(And, come to think of it, even if omega-3 fatty acids do significantly reduce human cancer risk in addition to reducing heart disease risk -- neither cancer nor heart disease are major sources of selection-pressure in the wild. By the time the hypothetical aquatic apes were old enough to get cancer or heart disease, they'd have already reproduced.)
 
tracer said:
... which makes it a little premature to use this as evidence for the Aquatic Ape theory.

(And, come to think of it, even if omega-3 fatty acids do significantly reduce human cancer risk in addition to reducing heart disease risk -- neither cancer nor heart disease are major sources of selection-pressure in the wild. By the time the hypothetical aquatic apes were old enough to get cancer or heart disease, they'd have already reproduced.)
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They may have already reproduced, but I think It could well make a difference in both the survival of offspring and the status of those offspring to have parents and grandparents living into old age (or whatever passed for old age back then).
 
I'm not seeing by what mechanisms the Omega 3 fatty acids shrink tumors. I also am not seeing anything pointing to whether this means anything.

Vitamin C in mega doses in vitro killed tumors also, but in vivo was worthless. To me, this looks to be the same.
 
tracer said:
... which makes it a little premature to use this as evidence for the Aquatic Ape theory.

(And, come to think of it, even if omega-3 fatty acids do significantly reduce human cancer risk in addition to reducing heart disease risk -- neither cancer nor heart disease are major sources of selection-pressure in the wild. By the time the hypothetical aquatic apes were old enough to get cancer or heart disease, they'd have already reproduced.)
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Reproduction is not the only factor in human survival; due to the extended childhood and importance of transmitted knowledge the survival of parents and even grandparents has a bearing on the selection pressure on young humans.
 
fowlsound said:
Vitamin C in mega doses in vitro killed tumors also, but in vivo was worthless. To me, this looks to be the same.
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To be fair, the article does say that Ω-3 fatty acids impaired the growth of human cancer cells that were injected into live mice. Whether it would have an effect on cancer cells produced from the native tissue is another matter -- the effect could simply have been an enhanced immune or rejection response in the "nude mice" to cells that obviously weren't their own.
 
Some of this is addressed in this follow up on "Natural Substances that Do Work."

I'll be sure to post more than one link next time, and more fully examine and explain what I'm posting about.
 
Do a pubmed search for "epa dha cancer", the promising research goes a long way back.
 
El Greco said:
Do a pubmed search for "epa dha cancer", the promising research goes a long way back.
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Ok I'm seeing breast cancer studies, but nothing on point about Multiple Myeloma.

So neat. If I had boobs with tumors I'd be happy.

Oh well, at least I learned a bit more on this topic. The one on brain tumors was a cool read.
 
Questions:

1) referring to this:

The influence of the 18 carbon chain length series of fatty acids on the growth of an SP210 mouse myeloma cell line were tested. The saturated fatty acid (C18:0, stearic acid) exhibited no cytotoxic or cytostatic effects, while the unsaturated fatty acids of the omega 9, omega 6, and omega 3 series proved effective in limiting cell growth.
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Is there an in vivo application that has replicated these results, or are we just seeing in vitro study on this now?

2) Referring to this:

At least three mechanisms have been identified by which n-3 fatty acids suppress mitosis. LA and AA activate protein kinase C (31 ) and induce mitosis but EPA and DHA appear to reverse the protein kinase C activity changes associated with colon carcinogenesis (32 ,33 ). n-3 fatty acids decrease the activity of ras (34 ) and AP-1 (35 ) oncogenes that are frequently activated in cancers and that stimulate mitosis.
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Is there trial now using this application of fatty acids to suppress cancer cell mitosis?
 
fowlsound said:
Ok am I missing some super seekrit google mojo?


Thanks Pat. :)
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If you go look at the other thread, the "Google Mojo" is Google Scholar, a Beta-test product that so far seems to work like a charm...

No problem. I'm not in the business of raising false hopes, so I hope you didn't take this as any attempt at flim-flammery...
 
In mice, as in the original article's reference, there has been some reported response in vivo.

As far as human trails, there's this link
Several of the known risk factors for breast, and colon, cancer may be favorably modified by dietary omega-3 FA supplementation, and the implementation of clinical chemoprevention trials is now feasible.
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I'd say that's a greenlight for some...

Then there is curcumin (turmeric)...
 
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PatKelley said:
If you go look at the other thread, the "Google Mojo" is Google Scholar, a Beta-test product that so far seems to work like a charm...

No problem. I'm not in the business of raising false hopes, so I hope you didn't take this as any attempt at flim-flammery...
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Not at all, but I hadn't heard much about it, so I have lots of questions :)

Those links are encouraging. I wonder how soon the chemotheraputic treatments will be in trial...
 
If anybody wants to know, I keep up to date with Eurekalert and follow mainly the Breaking News section. You can limit it to what stories you see, but it's a prime dumping ground for press releases in general, just make sure you look at sources as some suspect organizations also put out press releases.

I try and keep up with things that appear promising in the early stages, and follow up on as many as I can. I also occasionally write to the professors or professionals concerned to ask questions, and you'd be surprised at the number who answer!
 
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