Abstract
Omega-3 fatty acids have been suggested as a complement in cancer treatment, but doses are not established. We performed a dose-finding study in 33 children in remission from cancer. Participants were allocated to a body surface area (BSA) adjusted dose (mg/m2) of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (40:60), ranging 233–3448 mg/m2 daily for 90 days. Fatty acid concentration in plasma phospholipids and red blood cells were determined by GC. Supplementation was well tolerated and correlated strongly with blood ω3-fatty acid concentrations and EPA showed the highest increase. Using the ω3-index disregards docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), which increased 30–43% in our study motivating an EDD-index (∑EPA,DPA,DHA). The ratio between arachidonic acid and EPA or DHA showed negative exponential trends. Dose per BSA enabled an individualized omega-3 supplementation decreasing the variation referred to interindividual differences. Based on our results, we suggest a dose of 1500 mg/m2 BSA for further studies.
Highlights
Inflammation is of great importance for malignancy and a persistent inflammatory response can drive tumor growth [1,2]
Thirty-three of the forty participants completed the study protocol and were included in further analysis. These participants displayed no change in standard deviation score of Body mass index (BMI)
Palmitic acid (16:0) and palmitoleic acid (16:1ω7) did not change in. In this dose-finding study we found strong correlations between the ω3-LCPUFA concentrations in red blood cells (RBC) and phos pholipids (P-PL) and the ω3-supplemented dose adjusted for body surface area (BSA)
Summary
Inflammation is of great importance for malignancy and a persistent inflammatory response can drive tumor growth [1,2]. Long-chain ω3-fatty acids, as adjuvant treatment, increase the sensitivity for and enhance the effect of cyto static drugs in vitro and in vivo [15,16]. They demonstrate pro tective abilities against toxicity from chemotherapy and irradiation [17, 18] and reduce cancer cachexia in pediatric and adult patients [19,20]. Beneficial effects on cognitive function and socioemotional parameters have been found in response to increased ω3 consumption [25] This is of particular interest for childhood cancer survivors as neurocognitive deficits are frequently observed
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