An omega-3 that's poison for tumors

Science Daily / Université catholique de Louvain / Cell Metabolism ^ | June 11, 2021 | Emeline Dierge, Elena Debock, Céline Guilbaud, Cyril Corbet, Eric Mignolet, Louise Mignard, et al.

[ConservativeMind]

3D tumors that disintegrate within a few days thanks to the action of a well-known omega-3 (DHA, found mainly in fish) -- this is a promising discovery. Hungry for fatty acids, tumor cells in acidosis gorge themselves on DHA but are unable to store it correctly and literally poison themselves. The result? They die.

…the team quickly identified that these acidotic tumour cells responded in diametrically opposite ways depending on the fatty acid they were absorbing. Within a few weeks, the results were both impressive and surprising. "We soon found that certain fatty acids stimulated the tumour cells while others killed them," the researchers explained. DHA literally poisons them.

A fatal overload

The poison acts on tumour cells via a phenomenon called ferroptosis, a type of cell death linked to the peroxidation of certain fatty acids. The greater the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in the cell, the greater the risk of their oxidation. Normally, in the acidic compartment within tumours, cells store these fatty acids in lipid droplets, a kind of bundle in which fatty acids are protected from oxidation. But in the presence of a large amount of DHA, the tumour cell is overwhelmed and cannot store the DHA, which oxidises and leads to cell death. By using a lipid metabolism inhibitor that prevents the formation of lipid droplets, researchers were able to observe that this phenomenon is further amplified, which confirms the identified mechanism and opens the door to combined treatment possibilities.

This UCLouvain study shows the value of DHA in fighting cancer. "For an adult," the UCLouvain researchers stated, "it's recommended to consume at least 250 mg of DHA per day. But studies show that our diet provides on average only 50 to 100 mg per day. This is well below the minimum recommended intake."

[ckilmer]

Yeah, I take a combination of fish oil krill oil and cod liver oil.

[cibco]

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[Glad2bnuts]

So if you are likely to have heart problems take DHA, if you are likely to have prostate cancer take Velveeta?

[rarestia]

You are correct. The study did talk about counteractive functions in EPA and DHA for heart health. There are other reasons for taking fish oil supplements such as brain health, so it’s a quid pro quo. I suspect there are concomitant factors in heart health and that DHA alone isn’t going to lead to a decline in cardiovascular health.