The development of leukemia and lymphomas is related to the increase in inflammatory
process modulators. These, in turn, have divergent actions on the neoplastic process.
Populations of T cells have different roles in the neoplastic environment; while
interferon-gamma positive T cells have antitumor activity, the FoxP3+interleukin-10
positive population present a pro-tumor activity. Simultaneously, the inflammatory
process promotes the mobilization of fatty acids from the cell membrane to produce
lipid mediators, which also participate of the inflammatory response.
Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids, when
incorporated in the plasmatic membrane, decrease the arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism
and the production of eicosanoids derived from it. Thus, an alternative family of
lipid mediators are produced that are often less inflammatory than those produced
from arachidonic acid. Fatty acids can also influence the production of peptide
mediators such as cytokines, and the expression of transcription factors, which can
determine the production patterns of eicosanoids and cytokines as well as cell
differentiation. Due to these properties, the objective of this literature review was
to investigate studies published over the last 15 years on the effects of using
omega-3 fatty acids on inflammatory markers in leukemia and lymphomas.