Written by Rita Jenkins| 20 September, 2006 19:57 GMT
The oil that is abundant in certain types of fatty fish may be effective in combating kidney cancer, new research indicates. Women whose diets were rich in fish like salmon and sardines had a much lower risk over a 10 year period.
Including fish in your diet may be beneficial in warding off kidney cancer -- but not just any kind of fish will do. Those that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, such as salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines, are the types that might provide some degree of protection, new research published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association suggests.
There will be about 208,500 cases of kidney cancer worldwide in 2006 and 101,900 kidney cancer deaths, according to estimates. An estimated 39,000 new cases and 10,700 deaths are expected in the US this year.
Alicja Wolk, DMSc, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues analyzed questionnaire responses gathered over a 15-year period from 61,433 women aged 40 to 76. During the course of the study -- from 1987 to 2005 -- 150 women developed kidney cancer.
The participants who consumed fatty fish one or more times weekly had a 44 percent lower risk of kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) than those who never ate fish. The women who regularly consumed a diet featuring plenty of fatty fish had a 74 percent reduced risk of kidney cancer over a 10-year span.
Eating lean fish or other seafood appeared to have no effect on kidney cancer risk, according to the researchers.
While the study reveals a link between fatty fish consumption and reduced kidney-cancer risk, the authors note that it does not establish a cause and effect relationship.
However, the researchers speculated that eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaeneoic acid and vitamin D -- all abundant in fish oils -- might be responsible for lowering kidney cancer risk. |
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