SCIENCE: Fatty fish protects against cancer

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Sep 21, 2006, 5:55:55 AM9/21/06

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Fatty fish protects against cancer
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If you want to avoid cancer of the kidneys, a new major study from
Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that eating salmon or other kinds
of fatty fish a few times a month would be one good way to go about it.

At the end of the 1980s, 90,000 Swedish women were sent a questionnaire
on their dietary habits in connection with their mammography scan. Now,
with the help of another questionnaire a decade later and the cancer
registry, scientists at Karolinska Institutet have concluded that women
who eat fatty fish gain significant protection against renal cancer.

At least one portion of fatty fish a week during the period (1987-2004)
reduced the risk of renal cancer by 74 per cent compared with those who
never ate fatty fish. The group who ate fresh fish at least once a week
but for whom follow-up information were unavailable, saw a 40 per cent
reduction.

"This is the first time that a link between the consumption of fatty
fish and renal cancer has been studied," says Professor Alicja Wolk,
one of the scientists working with the study. "The reason previous
studies have been unable to demonstrate a link between fish consumption
and renal cancer is that they made no distinction between fatty and
non-fatty fish."

One significant difference between oily and non-fatty fish lies in how
much omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D they contain - substances
that, according to earlier cell studies, seem to protect against
cancer. Fatty fish contains more omega-3 fatty acids than non-oily
fish, and 3 to 5 times as much vitamin D. As fatty fish, the study
included salmon, raw herring, sardines and mackerel; as non-fatty, cod
and tuna (amongst other kinds).

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The study is to be published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) on 20 September.

Publication:
"Long-Term Fatty Fish Consumption and Renal Cell Carcinoma Incidence In
a Population-Based Prospective Cohort of Women" by Alicja Wolk A,
Susanna Larsson, Jan-Erik Johansson and Peter Ekman, JAMA September
2006.

For further information, please contact:

Professor Alicja Wolk
Phone: +46-8-524 861 70
E-mail: Alicj...@ki.se

Karolinska Institutet is one of the leading medical universities in
Europe. Through research, education and information, Karolinska
Institutet contributes to improving human health. Each year, the Nobel
Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine. For more information, visit ki.se