Fish oil use may increase prostate cancer risk

US scientists have confirmed that men who take omega-3 fatty acid supplements have a significantly increased risk of developing deadly and aggressive prostate cancer.

Omega-3 fatty acids, a health supplement extracted from deep-sea fish oil, have anti-inflammatory effects, but scientists have found that they can increase men's risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer by 71% and their risk of developing non-aggressive prostate cancer by 44%.

The BBC website reported that researchers in the United States compared blood samples from 834 men with prostate cancer with those from 1,393 healthy men.

The results confirm a surprising finding made by the team in 2011, when the US scientists found that high levels of DHA fatty acids in the blood were associated with aggressive prostate cancer.

"The latest results confirm our 2011 finding that omega-3 fatty acids from deep-sea fish are strongly associated with prostate cancer," said Dr. Blaski of Ohio State University, one of the authors of the study .

However, Dr. Crystal, a prostate cancer expert at the Fred Hutchins Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said that taking omega-3 fatty acids was more effective than eating salmon twice a week in terms of blood concentrations, so further research is needed to find out why omega-3 fatty acids may increase men's risk of prostate cancer.

Omega 3 is a popular health supplement, said to be effective in preventing heart attacks, strokes, and arthritis, as well as boosting brain power and treating behavioral disorders in children.

Participants in the study included men who were taking part in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial. Results from the trial showed that selenium did not help prevent prostate cancer, while men who took vitamin E had an increased incidence of prostate cancer.