Dietary Intake of N-3 and N-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Cancer: Meta-Analysis of Data from 32 Studies. (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Jian; Li, Xianqing; Hou, Jinfei; Sun, Jiaming; Guo, Nengqiang; Wang, Zhenxing
• Is Part Of: Nutrition and cancer. Volume 73:Number 6(2021)
• Page Start: 901
• Page End: 913
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: Cancer -- Periodicals; Nutrition -- Periodicals; Cancer; Nutrition; Periodicals; 616.9940654
• DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2020.1779321
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0163-5581

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Large epidemiological studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and cancers. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to examine the link between dietary intake of n-3 and n-6 PUFAs and cancer risk. Materials and methods: We performed a search on PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Studies that reported adjusted relative risk (RR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations of interest were included. Results: Thirty-two studies involving 1, 445, 732 participants were included. Colorectal, breast and prostate cancer had been analyzed in our study. Specifically, for colorectal cancer, total n-3 PUFAs, marine n-3 PUFAs, α-linolenic acids (ALA) and n-6 PUFAs were not associated with the risk of it (RR 1.04, 95%CI 0.85–1.28; RR 0.99, 95%CI 0.89–1.09; RR 1.05, 95%CI 0.93–1.19; RR 1.02, 95%CI 0.94–1.11, respectively). For breast cancer, only marine n-3 PUFAs, but not total n-3 PUFAs, ALA, and n-6 PUFAs, was associated with a lower risk of it (RR 0.70, 95%CI 0.55–0.91). For prostate cancer, ALA and n-6 PUFAs also have no association with the risk of it. Conclusions: Most subtypes of PUFAs are probably not related to cancers. However, additional high-quality trials are warranted to corroborate the findings of this meta-analysis.