Fatty acid regulation of breast cancer cell growth and invasion.

Abstract

In 1993, the American Institute for Cancer Research organized its fourth Annual Symposium around the topic “Diet and Breast Cancer”. At that time, we discussed the influence of dietary fatty acids on human breast cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis, and described the stimulatory effects of the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids (n-6 FAs), and the inhibitory effects of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) on both cell proliferation and expression of the metastatic phenotype.1 Since then, progress has been made in understanding the distinct, but complementary, roles of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase products of n-6 FA metabolism in breast cancer progression. Also, further support has been obtained for a dietary intervention trial with n-3 FA supplementation, either alone or with selective pharmacological inhibitors of eicosanoid biosynthesis, in women at high breast cancer risk and/or as a novel approach to adjuvant therapy.