Journal
CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOMARKERS & PREVENTION
Volume 17, Issue 5, Pages 1136-1143Publisher
AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-2803
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Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [R01 CA042182, CA42182, R25 CA098566] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDDK NIH HHS [P30 DK040561-10, P30 DK040561-13, P30 DK040561-13S1, P30 DK040561-14, P30 DK040561-15, P30 DK040561-11] Funding Source: Medline
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Background: Fish is the main dietary source of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, which have been suggested to play a protective role in colorectal cancer development in laboratory and animal studies. Human studies have not shown consistent results. We examined the association between intakes of fish and n-3 fatty acids from fish and colorectal cancer risk in men enrolled in the Physicians' Health Study. Methods: The Physicians' Health Study began as a randomized trial to examine the effect of aspirin and beta-carotene supplementation on cancer and cardiovascular disease. Fish intake was assessed at the 12-month follow-up with an abbreviated food-frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate multivariate relative risks for colorectal cancer for the categories of fish intake and quartiles of n-3 fatty acid intake. Results: During 22 years of follow-up, 500 men had a confirmed diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Fish intake was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk [multivariate relative risk (95% confidence interval) for highest versus lowest category, 0.60 (0.40-0.91); P-trend = 0.01]. The inverse association was observed for both colon and rectal cancers. Our findings for n-3 fatty acids were similar to those for fish; the multivariate relative risk (95% confidence interval) of total colorectal cancer for the highest versus lowest quartile of n-3 fatty acids was 0.74 (0.57-0.95; P-trend = 0.01). Conclusions: Our results from this long-term prospective study suggest that intakes of fish and long-chain n-3 fatty acids from fish may decrease the risk for colorectal cancer.
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