Long-term effects of varying consumption of ω3 fatty acids in ear, nose and throat cancer patients: assessment 1 year after radiotherapy

Abstract

A prospective 1-year follow-up study in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) cancer patients was carried out one year after radiotherapy to assess the effect of varying consumption of ω3 fatty acid according to whether they consumed more or less than the 50th percentile of ω3 fatty acids. Clinical, analytical, inflammatory (CRP and IL-6), and oxidative variables (TAC, GPx, GST, and SOD) were evaluated. The study comprised 31 patients (87.1% men), with a mean age of 61.3 ± 9.1 years. Hematological variables showed significant differences in the patients with a lower consumption of ω3 fatty acids. A lower mortality and longer survival were found in the group with ω3 fatty acid consumption ≥50th percentile but the differences were not significant. No significant difference was reached in toxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress markers. The group with ω3 fatty acid consumption <50th percentile significantly experienced more hematological and immune changes.

n-3 PUFA can reduce IL-6 and TNF levels in patients with cancer

“…[CI]: 0.033-0.753) to 0.568 (95% CI: 0.175-0.961) when the studies of Wu 2001 (36) and Felekis 2010 (39) were omitted. After five studies were removed, in which means and SDs were extracted by reading the graphs or calculating the medians and interquartile ranges (35,42,45,47,50) , a significant decrease in IL-6 was observed (SMD, 0.573; 95% CI: 0.092-1.053), and the heterogeneity remained significant (P heterogeneity < 0.001; I 2 = 90.5%). Additional analysis by including two non-RCTs (29,30) showed a similar result in IL-6 after omega-3 PUFA administration (SMD, 0.975; 95% CI: 0.386-1.564) with significant heterogeneity (P heterogeneity < 0.001; I 2 = 94.7%).…”

“…Chronic inflammation involving IL-6 and TNF was related to the development and progression of head and neck cancer (73) . None of the included RCTs reported remarkable increases in IL-6 and TNF in head and neck cancer (38,39,45,47,49) . According to current knowledge, the present results for IL-6 and TNF in head and neck cancer should be interpreted with caution.…”

“…19 for IL-6 (34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52) and 15 for TNF (36-41, 43, 44, 46, 48-53) . Table 1 provides the detailed characteristics of the included studies.…”